A study of migratory birds in the East Asian Flyway

Background and Significance:

Despite housing some of the richest biodiversity hotspots on Earth, the tropical forests of Southeast Asia are experiencing rapid degradation from development, agricultural expansion, and forest fires amplified by climate change. The East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAF) is one of the world’s most diverse bird migration routes, but it contains many threatened or endangered species due to the synergistic pressures of poaching and habitat loss. The current drivers of population decline in the EAF are predicted to be exacerbated by climate change, and there is an urgency to better understand the ecology of migratory birds in the EAF.

Goals and Objectives of the Project:

To fill the knowledge gaps in non-breeding grounds of the EAF, we have initiated a co-developed, multidisciplinary, and innovative project that leverages the local expertise of our network of conservation practitioners in Indonesia, Malaysia, and beyond. We are currently recruiting teams to collaborate on the project. Our specific objectives are:

  • To co-develop a research plan, an acoustic monitoring protocol, and specific conservation objectives related to migratory birds in the EAF.
  • To create a robust set of acoustic training data of Southeast Asian migratory bird species to improve automated detection and classification models (e.g., BirdNet).
  • To use the data and proof of concept developed in this project to apply for larger funding sources that can help support long-term locally-led monitoring within the EAF.

Expectations of participants (program will run from December 2023- December 2024):

  • Attend monthly virtual meetings to develop a research plan, study design, sampling protocol, and plan for write-up and dissemination.
  • Deploy and maintain autonomous recording units on the mutually decided sampling schedule. This deployment can be at your field site or in your backyard.
  • Agree to archive  and share data according to the agreement created by practitioners at the start of the project.  
  • Contribute to writing and creation of scientific outputs and outreach materials related to the project and the findings.

Benefits of participating in the program:

  • Receive 2-3 AudioMoth recorders (https://www.openacousticdevices.info/audiomoth), SD cards and batteries.
  • Be part of a regional network of practitioners that are passionate about conservation and birds.
  • After successful completion of the project participants will receive a certificate of completion.

How to apply

The application is open between 1-15 November 2023. If you are based in a Southeast Asian country that occurs along the East Asian Flyway (https://www.eaaflyway.net/the-flyway/) and are interested in collaborating with us on this initiative, please fill out the application form in this link. After we receive the application, we will assess the feasibility of the project and make the final selection.

Our Partners

Acknowledgements: Funding for this project comes with generous support from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology through the H. Elliot McClure Fund for the Research and Conservation of Birds in Asia.