I was looking for photos of wild birds of the Philippines to act as a reference for me to properly identify the birds I was seeing in my garden in Mandaluyong and Silang, Cavite, so I found a slide show of the photos of noted Philippine nature photographer, Romy Orcon. These are a few of the wild birds of the Philippines. Romy Orcon made a presentation on Earth Day in the Philippines, and he mentioned how rare the Toucans and other species that are being taken by poachers every year. I watched Romy in one of the videos I found on youtube teaching his young son how to spot and take photos of birds in flight at the Candaba Swamps in Pampanga. He was able to take a few photos of small herons and only one photo of one Philippine mallard duck. I remember as a young girl growing up in the Philippines, the candaba swamps was full of migrant birds and local water fowl. There are barely one or two wild birds and often local children will bring slingshots to kill these birds just for the sport of it. Now Romy's son he calls "Pogito" was lucky to capture one bird in flight. ONE BIRD!!!
This is so terrible....if all his young son could find was one bird, it is heart wrenching to know that in this country of the Philippines, few appreciate the wonderful bounty of rainforests and the wildlife contained within them. The biggest bird in the world, the Monkey Eating Eagle in the Southern region is on the verge of extinction as few untouched habitat exist. Here is a video of the most beautiful eagle on earth, the biggest and the rarest of eagles.
