Diversity of the Insects in the Diet of Edible Nest Swiftlets in Oil Palm Plantations

Paper Details

Research Paper 01/04/2016
Views (391) Download (19)
current_issue_feature_image
publication_file

Diversity of the Insects in the Diet of Edible Nest Swiftlets in Oil Palm Plantations

Sharifah Farhana Syed Ab Rahman, Hafidzi Mohd Nor, Maisarah Burhanuddin
J. Bio. Env. Sci.8( 4), 39-48, April 2016.
Certificate: JBES 2016 [Generate Certificate]

Abstract

The Edible Nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus) is a small bird from the family Apodidae which is commonly found in the South-East Asian region which characteristically roost and nest in cave or cavern-like situation. Swiftlet farming in specially designed building has recently developed due to high consumer demand for the edible bird nest. The farms are not the natural habitat of the swiflets and there are greater chance that this will affect in one way or the other way of their dietary habit and composition. The focus of this study was to investigate the diversity of insects found in the diet of A. fuciphagus in their habitats in oil palm-growing areas in Malaysia. This was achieved by investigating the relationship between insect composition in oil palm and insect prey composition in the feeding bolus of A. fuciphagus. The most common insects order found in the sampled fields of the three states in the study was Diptera (26.53%) and followed closely by Hymenoptera (21.26%). The difference between the sample sites as far as insects order composition is not significantly different (t test = 3.759 and 2.9). We failed to accept the H0 that the diversity of insect in the fields and diet of the swiftlets in all locations was the same.

VIEWS 43

Tompkins D, Clayton D. 1999. Host resources govern the specificity of swiftlet lice: size matters. Journal of Animal and Ecology 68, 489-500.

Kamarudin MI, M Anum. 2011. “Foraging activity of Aerodramus fuciphagus swiftlet over oil palm canopy and its effect on Elaeidobius spp pollinator population”. In Proceeding 32nd Annual Conference of Malaysian Society of Animal Production. 23-24 o.

Fujita MS. 2012. Sustainable use of Rich Bird Diversity in “Biomass Society”. Newsletter for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University. No 66 Autumn. 19-21 o.

Lourie SA, Tompkins DM. 2000. The diets of Malaysian swiftlets. Ibis 142, 596-602.

Ibrahim SH, Baharun A. 2009. A study on suitable habitat for swiftlet farming. Journal of Civil Engineering 1, 1-7.

Kamarudin MI. 2009. Development of domesticated swiftlet (A. fuciphagus) and establishing its husbandry practices in Malaysia. Dana R&D Pertanian Science Fund Research Project Summary.

Porter JH, Parry ML, Carter TR. 1991. The potential effects of climatic change on agricultural insect pests. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 57, 221-240.

Strauss SY, Zangerl AR. 2002. Plant-insect interactions in terrestrial ecosystems. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford, UK. 77-106.

Begon  M,  Harper  JL,  Townsend  CR.  1996. Ecology: individuals, populations and communities. Blackwell Science Ltd.

Janzen DH. 1973. Sweep samples of tropical foliage insects: effects of seasons, vegetation types, elevation, time of day, and insularity. Ecology 54, 687-708.

Lack E. 1951. The breeding biology of the swift Apus apus. Ibis 93(4), 501-546.

Elkins N. 2010. Weather and bird behaviour. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Hansell M. 2000. Bird nests and construction behaviour. Cambridge University Press.