Diets of selected species of babblers (Family:Timalidae) at Kampung Gumbang. Bau, Sarawak (Borneo)

• Main Author: Afifah, Hishamudin
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2017
• Subjects: QL Zoology; SF Animal culture
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/32035/1/Afifah%20Binti%20Hisharnudin%20ft.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/32035/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

A project was conducted to investigate the diet of understory birds at the secondary forest in Kampung Gumbang, Bau. Birds were captured by mist-netting for four days and the diet samples were collected via feces collection. In the field, the faecal sample was preserved using a 70% alcohol and the observation of the faecal was examined at the Parasitology Laboratory at External Laboratory. (EL), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). The identification of insect order includes the body, head, mandibles, wing, elytra and legs parts of the insects. The study showed that the diets of captured birds contains of the eight insect orders which are Coleoptera (33.33%), Hymenoptera (20.83%), Diptera (4.17%), Orthoptera(20.83%), Hemiptera (8.33%), Blattodea (4.17%), Isoptera (4.17%) and an unidentified order(4.17%). Six categories of feeding guilds such as nectarivore-insectivore, insectivore-frugivore, insectivore, nectarivore-insectivore-frugivore, insectivore-carnivore and nectarivore were identified. Most of the birds' species captured preferred insects as their diet.