There is something so rewarding in the stillness Birding offers. This stillness is less of a skill and more of an art. A reminder to us of the importance of taking quick breaks once in a while. This is a chance to reground and rediscover wonders around us. One Davao resort that offers Bird watching in Davao is the Malagos Garden Resort. We are gearing towards becoming a Davao nature and healing resort in the midst of all this chaos. With that, you are in for a more refined experience with nature when we open our doors again. 

One of the must-see in the resort are the number of endemic birds in the area. As applied to birds, the term "endemic" refers to any species found only within a defined geographical area. There is no upper limit to this; in fact, it can be referred to that all bird species are endemic to Earth. In practice, the largest areas for which the term is in common use are countries and geographical regions.  To get a sneak peek of what we have to offer, here are some endemic birds you can encounter in Malagos:

Red Keeled FlowerPecker. The red-keeled flowerpecker or red-striped flowerpecker is a species of bird in the family Dicaeidae. It is one of the twelve  endemic flowerpeckers to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The black-belted flowerpecker was formerly regarded as a subspecies of this bird.  It prefers the canopy of forests and forest edges and can be seen feeding on flowering and fruiting trees. The call is a metallic “seep seep” and ranges from almost all the major islands in the Philippines except Palawan and Mindoro.

Ridge Top Swiftlet. This is a newly split Philippine endemic. The race isonota bagobo is found at upper elevations in Mindoro, Mindanao, and Sulu archipelago. It is described as "uniformly mid-glossed green on dull dark blue with absence of faint contrasting pale rump". The other race is isonota isonata found in north Luzon mountains. It is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and was previously considered a subspecies of the glossy swiftlet.

Guaiabero. The guaiabero is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae, belonging to the monotypic genus Bolbopsittacus and closely related to the lovebirds and hanging parrots. It is endemic to the Philippines and locally known as bubutok. Its common name is derived from its reputation for eating guavas. Mainly green and only 15 cm in size, the males have blue lores, cheeks, orbital region and chin, and over the upper back there is a thin pale blue band. Chest, belly and undertail-coverts are yellow-green, as are the lower upperparts and upper tail-coverts. The bill is bluish grey, blackish towards the tip. Females differ from males by having the blue limited to a small area around the lower bill, and having a small hind collar of black feathers with a wide yellowish seam. 

These are only some of the many endemic birds you’d see in the resort. You better grab your binoculars because when you see them up close and personal, you’d want to see them once again! They are all dainty and colorful. Just like us, you’d surely want to protect them at all costs. We will be offering birding when we open our doors again. To know more about the details, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter. Simply head on to malagos.com, sign up, and expect a  lot of surprises in store for you. See you around!