Sains Malaysiana 47(3)(2018): 441–446

http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2018-4703-03

Sunda Scops-Owl Density Estimation via Distance Sampling and Call Playback

(Anggaran Kepadatan Burung Hantu Jampuk melalui Jarak Pensampelan dan Panggilan Ulang Dengar)

PHILLCAINE PILLA¹, CHONG LEONG PUAN^1,2,3*, VOON-CHING LIM⁴, BADRUL AZHAR^1,3

& MOHAMED ZAKARIA¹

¹Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan

Malaysia

²Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

³Biodiversity Unit, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

⁴Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

Received: 21 April 2017/Accepted: 25 September 2017

ABSTRACT

Nocturnal birds in the tropics remain little studied primarily due to the logistical difficulties of surveying these birds at night. While call playback has been widely employed in the temperate regions, its practicality has not been adequately demonstrated on tropical owl species. This study aimed to test the feasibility of estimating the density of the Sunda scops-owl (Otus lempiji) in a lowland forest in Peninsular Malaysia based on call playback and distance sampling. From a total of 58 detections of the owl species from October 2012 to May 2013, 72.41% (42 detections) were made when the birds were breeding. The densities of the owl were estimated at 1.6 individuals and 2.6 individuals per 10 ha based on spontaneous and provoked calls (i.e. before and after call playback), respectively. Broadcasting of the calls significantly increased the numbers of detections (χ2 = 16.038, p<0.001) during both breeding and non-breeding seasons of the birds. The combination of call playback and distance sampling improved the detectability as well as precision of the owl’s density estimation and can be potentially applied on other little known owl species in Southeast Asia.

Keywords: Call playback; density estimation; distance sampling; Otus lempiji; vocalisation

ABSTRAK

Hanya sedikit kajian terhadap burung nokturnal di kawasan tropika dijalankan kerana masalah logistik untuk meninjau burung ini pada waktu malam. Walaupun panggilan ulang dengar telah digunakan secara meluas di rantau temperat namun tahap praktikalnya tidak digunakan ke atas spesies burung hantu tropika secukupnya. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menguji kebolehlaksanaan menganggarkan ketumpatan burung hantu jampuk (Otus lempiji) di hutan tanah rendah di Semenanjung Malaysia berdasarkan panggilan ulang dengar dan jarak persampelan. Daripada sejumlah 58 spesies burung hantu yang dikesan dari Oktober 2012 hingga Mei 2013, 72.41% (42 pengesanan) telah dibuat apabila burung membiak. Kepadatan burung hantu dianggarkan pada 1.6 individu dan 2.6 individu untuk setiap 10 ha berdasarkan panggilan spontan dan provokasi (sebelum dan selepas panggilan ulang dengar). Penyebaran panggilan dengan ketara meningkatkan bilangan pengesanan (χ2 = 16.038, p<0.001) semasa musim pembiakan dan bukan pembiakan burung. Gabungan panggilan ulang dengar dan jarak persampelan memperbaiki keterkesanan serta ketepatan kepadatan anggaran burung hantu dan berpotensi digunakan ke atas spesies burung hantu kurang diketahui di Asia Tenggara.

Kata kunci: Kepadatan jarak persampelan; panggilan ulang dengar; penyuaraan; Otus lempiji

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*Corresponding author; email: chongleong@upm.edu.my