Bird Breeding Centre - Bird Race, Bird Watching & Nature Photography

Please be informed that the Bird Breeding Centre is
temporarily closed effective 14 May 2009 until further notice.
We are sorry for the inconvenience.

EKSPO BIODIVERSITI 2012, TAMAN BUKIT TAWAUBIRD RACE
EKSPO BIODIVERSITI 2012TAWAU HILLS PARK01 – 09 September 2012(Session 1)BIRD RACE
BIRD RACE
EKSPO BIODIVERSITI 2012, TAMAN BUKIT TAWAUBIRD RACE

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the first Tawau Hills Park Bird Race. A Bird Race is a fun learning bird watching activity where teams of competitors race for a certain duration at designated sites to watch, identify and record as many bird species as possible, data collected would help in conservation and future research.

REGISTRATION & SUBMISSION

Entry forms are available at: www.sabahparks.org.my or www.facebook.com/ictunit.sabahparks

1. A Registration Fee is waived.

2. Closing date for registration is 1st September, 2012 by 1500hrs at the Contest Registration Booth in Tawau Hills Park. Upon registration, each team will be provided with an Official Bird Checklist and a Log Sheet.

3. The race will commence on 2nd September, 2012 from 0600hrs to1430hrs on the same day at the Tawau Hills Park, Tawau. The team's handbook must be submitted to the Arbitrators before 1600hrs.

4. Any team that is late in submitting their results (made in the handbook upon official registration) to the Arbitrators after 1630hrs on the someday will be penalized at the rate of one species per minute.

5. The Arbitrators will stop accepting logs at 1730hrs that same day, at which point teams that have not submitted their logs would be deemed on holiday and disqualified with our thanks and well wishes!

ENTRY FORM

RULES AND REGULATIONS:

1. The welfare of the birds and protection of habitats must come first. Caged, restrained, injured or dead birds or birds declared by the Arbitrators as escapees will not be counted. Care must also be taken toot cause distress to both the birds and to the surrounding vegetation and wildlife.

2. The race is open to teams comprising persons of sound health and with some basic knowledge of birds.

3. Teams must consist of three (3) persons, maximum four persons, withal least one of them being an experienced birder and will be the captain of the team and be answerable for the actions and conducts of his team. The team must be officially registered with the Organizers by filling the official Entry Form.

4. The organizer will Endeavour to assign a guide to the team that requestor one, the guide can assist in the identification of birds should members of the team cannot reach a majority decision on the identification of the particular bird. The majority of team members must identify the bird species beyond any doubt.

5. The use of Field Guides is highly encouraged for each team.

6. The race, to be done on foot without utilizing any form of transport

7. The winning team will be the one that records the highest number of species of birds on the log book provided, teams are encouraged to note down interesting observations as well. Names of species must conform with those listed in the Official Checklist.

8. All birds must be seen by the majority (at least 2 members) of the team members.

9. Teams may record birds from any part of the Tawau Hills Park and the greater complex area. The specific areas for the race will be briefed before the event.

10. A Race Briefing will be held sharp at 1600hrs on 1st September 2012 at the race site. All teams MUST attend this briefing so as to be assigned their respective guides, if any, identify race sites and to discuss safety protocols.

11. Attracting birds with audio equipment or artificial objects is totally prohibited.

12. Flash photography of nesting birds is totally prohibited. The organizers however, highly encourage photographs of birds deemed rare and/or are possible new records for verification purposes.

13. The Arbitrators may request team members and/or guide to provide verbally details of the species sighted and recorded, failure to do so may result in a penalty.

14. Any violation of the Rules and Regulations will result to disqualification.

15. IMPORTANT: The organizers and others associated with the event will not be held responsible for any damages, injury or loss of life and/or limb. Participation in the Bird Race is solely at one's own risk.

16. The Organizers reserve the rights to decline any registration for the race without giving any explanation for doing so.

17. The Organizers/Arbitrators' decision is final. No appeal, complain, or correspondence will be entertained. By virtue of entering the Borneo Bird Race, the participants signify their acceptance of the rules

PRIZES

Grand prize : RM 150.00 + 1 souvenir kits
Second prize : RM 100.00 + 1 souvenir kits
Third prize : RM 50.00 + 1 souvenir kits

Each participants will receive Certificate of Participation.

Note:

For winner awarding, species list from competitors will be compared with checklist gathered by Marshalls on duty during the same period of competition. Also, from Sabah Parks research checklist.

For any inquiry, please do not hesitate to contact the organizer at; Contact person: Mr. Ab.Ghaffar Bin Takunai (Ict Unit, Sabah Parks)

Email: ttsbirdrace@yahoo.com
Contact no: 019-5352066 (Hand Phone), 088-523500 (Office)

Mini Bird Race & Bird Watching

Programme outline : 1st Bird Race & Bird Watching 2012

Tawau Hills Park is located in south-eastern Sabah and is bounded by the Ulu Kalumpang Forest Reserve on the northern side and Mount Andrassy Forest Reserve on the south.

The eastern and western sides are bordered by agricultural lands mainly cocoa and oil palm plantations. The terrain within the park is quite rugged and hilly with three main peaks in the form of extinct volcanoes namely:

1) Gunung Magdalena (1,310 m asl),

2) Gunung Lucia (1,189 m asl) and

3) Gunung Maria (1,067 m asl).

The southern perimeter contains some of the last remaining non-swampy land under primary forest in Sabah (Siraj Omar and Jamili Nais, 1995).Seven important rivers with water catchment areas are confined largely or entirely within the park boundary. They are

1) Sungai Tawau and Sungai Kinabutan in the centre,

2) Sungai Mantri and Sungai Balung in the east and

3) Sungai Merotai Kanan, Sungai Merotai Kecil and Sungai Junap (a tributary of Sungai Merotai Besar) in the west.

Sungai Tawau is the main river in the park

An estimated 180 species of birds are present in the park, which makes it an important site for lowland forest species in Sabah especially for hornbills (six species) and pheasants. The Near Threatened Lesser Fish-eagle Ichthyophaga humilis has been recorded as well.