Belau National Museum (BNM) has distributed their latest report titled 2021 State of Palau’s Birds (SOPB). The 2021 bird book is the 12th annual report for the State of Palau’s Birds series. In April 2023, the 2021 SOPB was distributed to all public and private schools and libraries in Palau, as well as environmental related NGO’s, most dive shops and hotels, Ministry of State, the Ministry of Education and some of its divisions, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, & Environment and its divisions, Foreign Embassies, all State governments and their respective PAN offices, and all 16 Delegates and 13 Senators, as well as the Presidents and Vice Presidents offices.
The report was created to help spread awareness of Palau’s unique bird species including the progress and activities of the National Bird Monitoring Program housed at the Belau National Museum. More recently, it has started reporting on the accomplishments and noteworthy field observations of the Palau Bird Records Committee.
According to BNM’s 2020 SOPB Press Release, birds are an excellent indicator of the state of the environment. Birds are sensitive to habitat change, and changes in their population are often an indication of the environmental problems.
The 2021 SOPB states that at least 3,000 birds visit the Northern Peleliu Lkes (sandflats) annually. It was designated as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International in 2016. An estimated 90% of the birds observed at Lkes were migratory. These migratory birds come from different parts of the world such as Russia, Central Asia, China, Taiwan, Japan, and even Australia and New Zealand.
Belau National Museum extends their thanks to the donors of the 2021 State of Palau’s Birds which include Matson’s, Palau Shipping Company, Taiwan Embassy, the Australian Bat Society, and the Ngara-Maiberel Women’s Organization. By: Telbakes Yano