To determine baseline information on the habitat and cavity preferences and nesting ecology of some of our cavity-nesting birds. Specifically, we aim to:

1. Determine nest-site and cavity preferences of cavity-nesting birds in SWFR.

2. Determine possible nest niche overlap.

3. Recommend forest management measures and conservation tools through the conduct of key informant interviews and review of existing policies.

Project objectives:

1. Identify frugivory links between birds and fruiting trees in urban green spaces

2. Identify and match relevant traits of the birds, trees, and fruits that could explain these links

Abstract:

There are around 82 species of avian frugivores in the Philippines, ranging in size from large-bodied to small-bodied, responsible for the seed dispersal of a variety of plants. However, human disturbances are causing a decline in large avian frugivores, potentially changing the avian frugivore community and affecting seed dispersal services. One of the ways to evaluate this skew in diversity is through trait-matching, which links specific traits of birds, trees, and fruits to explain frugivory networks. Lesser diversity is known to weaken the correlations made in trait-matching, such as beak gape size and size of fruits consumed whole, thus making it a potentially useful metric to evaluate anthropogenic impacts, such as urbanization, on decreasing biodiversity. There are currently no published studies from the Philippines involving trait-matching in avian frugivory, so our research aims to rectify this gap. We selected the University of the Philippines Diliman as our study site, one of the last remaining green spaces in the highly urbanized Metro Manila. We surveyed 20 trees and identified 8 species of frugivorous birds, ranging in size from small-sized flowerpeckers to medium-sized orioles. Majority of frugivory events occurred in trees with small fruits such as Balete (Ficus benjamina) and Bignay (Antidesma bunius).