“Look at that bird!! It is Kra Lam Bua (Red-whiskered Bulbul). Look! Its undertail-coverts are red. It’s preening and eating a fruit. Look!! It’s making a drop”.
 These are the type of comments you will hear from the children of Ban Mae Sa Mai Bird Club when they are out in the forest bird watching. FORRU and the Hmong village of Ban Mae Sa Mai have been carrying out forest restoration since 1994, planting more than 130 rai to date.
Bird diversity has increased more rapidly where forest restoration has been carried out compared to non-planted plots (Toktang 2005). This increase is the result of improved habitat conditions, such as being cooler, moister and having more leaf litter. Also, the newly planted trees provide food and resources which attract birds (see study from BMSM). As the birds visit the planted trees, they disperse the seeds of other plants into the area, thus increasing plant diversity. In planted plots, more than 60 tree species (not including planted species) have germinated from such bird-dispersed seeds. Since animals are such important seed dispersers and as many of them have now been extirpated, birds are now the most important seed dispersers.
The most important birds for seed dispersal here in northern Thailand are bulbuls. They tend to live in large mixed-species flocks which frequently migrate between forest and open areas. In and around Ban Mae Sa Mai there  are 5 species; the Red-whiskered Bulbul, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Black-crested Bulbul, Black-headed Bulbul and Flavescent Bulbul. These birds are also often caught by children in northern Thailand, both for fun and to eat. Left: Tiderach from the Education Unit and children from the Ban Mae Sa Mai Bird Club are up at dawn to identify what birds are around.
After meeting with grade 7 children of the local school Jaw Phor Luang Aupatum at Ban Mae Sa Mai, the children decided that they wanted to conserve birds in the village and surrounding forest. As birds are such important seed dispersers and because they are hunted, protection of birds is as  important as tree planting for forest restoration. The children wanted to go about this in three ways. Firstly, they wanted to improve the forest where the birds live; secondly, they wanted to protect birds in the village; and thirdly, the girls wanted to use traditional Hmong cross-stitch to depict the local birds, to be used in clothing or bags. Right: Children from the Ban Mae Sa Mai Bird Club using identification guides to find out the names of the birds they are seeing.
We started with bird appreciation and recognition through the Bird Club. The children already knew many bird calls, their characteristics, what they ate, where they lived, how to catch them and even, sometimes, what they tasted like. Tiderach Toktang from FORRU’s education unit is our resident bird specialist, and has spent much time with the children exchanging information about the local birds, such as the local Hmong names.
The children have been excited about the bird club and are keen to learn more about their local birds that they share the forest with. This is the first step to conserving and protecting the local birds and the tree species they help to disperse. Left: A cross-stitch pattern of local bird species that the children will use for bags and clothing.
Tidarach Toktang |
