MANILA, 20 January 2008 — As flocks of migratory birds fly from the cold winter up north to seek warmer areas down south, Pampanga is in the thick of preparations to welcome them to its Candaba marsh with its Ibon-Ebon Festival next month.

Birds of various species, particularly ducks and brown shrikes locally known as tarat, roost by the thousands starting September last year until March this year on an annual basis.

Southern Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and other Asian countries are also frequented by migratory birds.

Now that the threat of bird flu has died down and the presence of avian virus ruled out in the country, the strict precautionary measures set by the Department of Agriculture have ensured the health safety so far.

Right in the Poblacion of the town, a huge mixed flock of egrets has arrived and perched on the mango trees.

Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo said the trees planted by the Kapampangans are a come-on for these migratory birds. Egrets and herons are known to roost and nest on top of trees.

It has been observed that these wild birds have been flying to certain directions not only in Candaba but also in nearby municipalities just before sunset, apparently to find trees where they can spend the night, according to Pelayo.

Even highly urbanized Valenzuela, a part of northern metropolitan Manila, became host to these migrants. A five-hectare lot with trees was made a nesting place by herons.

Based on Pampanga census, some 35 species of water birds were seen in the Candaba Swamp.

This means that some 10,200 individuals birds roost within a 200-hectare area in the marsh. Very significant was the large number of Philippine ducks sighted together with three more species of wild ducks: garganey, northern shoveler and northern pintail.

Wild ducks alone totalled more than 3,000 within the census area, said the Pampanga census.

Tim Fisher, an authority on Philippine birds identified another species of water bird during the census that has not been seen in the Candaba swamp for the last ten years — the purple gallinule.

A picture of the bird otherwise known as the wild Philippine Duck and locally known as dumara with its scientific name Anas luzonica is drawn in Candaba’s festival logo, it also shows hugging a domestic duck (itik) egg sitting on green grass symbolizing a healthy relationship between nature conservation and food production, according to the town’s press statement.