Indivivual Behavior of Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) in Asam

Kumbang Crocodile Farm, Medan City, North Sumatra

Erni Jumilawaty and Muhammad Dicky Syahputra

Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Sumatera Utara,

Medan 20155, Indonesia

Keywords: Asam kumbang crocodile farm, Bubulcus ibis, behaviour, cattle egret, North Sumatra

Abstract: Research on the behavior of individual cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) in the Asam Kumbang Crocodile Farm

Area, Medan Selayang District, Medan City, North Sumatra, was completed from December 2018 to

February 2019. Data were collected using the Scan Sampling method. This study aims to determine

individual behavior. The results found 5 types of individual sub-behavior for 3,780 minutes (63 hours)

which included preening behavior (386 times), self-comfort behavior (193 times), stretching behavior (101

times), sunbathing behavior (47 times), and resting behavior (4 times). In the morning, the dominant

behavior is preening behavior with the aim to cleanse themself from small-sized organisms such as lice

attached on the surface of feathers. During the daytime, dominant behavior of cattle egret is stretching with

the aim to cool (neutralize) body heat and flex the beak muscles. In the afternoon, the dominant behavior

performed is the self-comfort behavior of the body with the aim of removing dust, dirt and mud on the

surface of the fur.

1 INTRODUCTION

Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a species of waterbird

from the Ardeidae family with distribution in

Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java and Bali (Mackinnon,

2010). According to Siegfried (1971), B. ibis is a

species commonly inhabits the agricultural areas

such as rice fields. Regulation of the Minister of the

Environment Number 20 of 2018 concerning the

determination of protected species of plants and

animals stated that cattle egrets are no longer

protected since its greater increase in population at

various regions. This species adapt very quickly to

the environment and can live in any wetland areas.

Bubulcus ibis occupy the wetlands area as a

place to forage and living habitat. Utilization of

wetlands is related to the function of wetland areas

as a support for life activities which provide

abundant food for cattle egrets (Davies and

Lundberg, 1996). Wetlands have a variety of

ecological functions that are very important

including the function of hydrological regulators,

producers of biological natural resources and habitat

of cattle egrets. The existence of wetlands as a

habitat for buffalo herons has been formulated in the

Ramsar International convention as an international

interest (Sibuea, 1997).

Moreover, Bubulcus ibis has an important role

for a wetland area and grass area as a pest control,

both insects and other small animals. This relates to

the species of prey consumed, namely insects found

in the area (Alikodra, 2002). In an ex-situ site

namely Asam Kumbang crocodile farm, some

individuals of B. ibis are seen to do a variety of

activities and breeding since the area provides a

perch, foraging and nesting sites on diverse species

of tree vegetation. However, there is a predator

pressure in the habitat, which is the estuarine

crocodile found in the breeding area of the farm.

The predatory pressure causes B. ibis to develop

anti-predator behavior, which is a form of alertness

to disturbances caused by predators (Agrawal,

2001). One of the predatory behaviors carried out by

birds is Mobbing. Mobbing is widely understood as

an anti predator strategy that occurs in birds, this

behavior can provide the ability of birds to guard the

nest, offspring, and lessons to their children about

the potential danger from predators (Arnold, 2000)

Asam Kumbang crocodile farm is a wetland area

including an artificial lake that has dozens of

estuarine crocodiles, in which the area has become

Jumilawaty, E. and Syahputra, M.

Indivivual Behavior of Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) in Asam Kumbang Crocodile Farm, Medan City, North Sumatra.

DOI: 10.5220/0010199200002775

In Proceedings of the 1st International MIPAnet Conference on Science and Mathematics (IMC-SciMath 2019), pages 387-389

ISBN: 978-989-758-556-2

387

habitats for B. ibis to find food and place nest. In

searching for food, the egrets prey on insects and

small animals in this area including amphibians,

annelids and insects. In addition, Asam Kumbang

crocodile farm is a breeding site to many waterbirds,

including cattle egret, with the total area of 2 ha.

This study then aims to determine the behavior of

individual Bubulcus ibis as preliminary information

of its natural activity in an artifical site.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study was conducted in December 2018-

February 2019 in the Asam Kumbang crocodile

farm, Medan Selayang District, Medan City, North

Sumatra. Observations were performed with the aid

of binoculars starting at 07.00 AM to 17.00 PM

using the Scan Sampling method with the object of

one individual. Observations are made on selected

individuals until no different behaviors are found,

but if the individual left the research site, the area of

observation then the observation is continued to the

closest individual to him. Observed behaviors are

based on Kushlan (1979), i.e. preening, self-comfort,

stretching, sunbathing, and resting behaviour.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Based on this study, the cattle egret B. ibis displayed

different frequencies in the 5 individual

subbehaviors, namely preening behavior (386 times,

52.66%), self-comfort behavior (193 times,

26.33%), stretching behavior (101 times, 13.77),

sunbathing behavior (47 times, 6.41%), and resting

behavior (4 times, 0.54%). (Table 1). In the

morning, the dominant behavior is preening

behavior with the aim to cleanse themself from

small-sized organisms such as lice attached on the

surface of feathers.

During the daytime, dominant behavior of cattle

egret is stretching with the aim to cool (neutralize)

body heat and flex the beak muscles. In the

afternoon, the dominant behavior performed is the

self-comfort behavior of the body with the aim of

removing dust, dirt and mud on the surface of the

fur.

This situation is in accordance with the statement

of Pettingill (1969) and Jumilawaty and Dalimunthe

(2018), which stated that preening behavior such as

examining fur is a very important treatment

performed with a beak, moved or bitten to the ends

and this movement is species-specific. Bird's feet

can scratch the head, usually to clean the part of the

head that cannot be touched by the beak. Self-

comfort behavior is also related to the care of fur,

skin and other parts that are very important to do B.

ibis especially those used for flying.

Sibley (2001) states that during the day, the birds

carry out activities including self-comfort behavior

such as examining feathers aimed at treating the

physical condition of individual birds. According to

Pasquier (1997), B. ibis will spend most of its time

performing preening and self-comforts behaviors

primarily with regard to the cleanliness and

regularity of the hair, such as reuniting the separate

feathers and arranging the feathers back into place.

Foraging-active birds will cause their body feathers

to dry which in turn needed to be lubricated through

preening behaviors (Jumilawaty and Dalimunthe,

2018).

Meanwhile, the resting behavior was the least

common behavior performed by cattle egret due to

its active-breeding state. The total observation for 7

days was compiled in Figure 1. During observation,

B. ibis were seen to look for more branches of trees

used to make a half-finished nest and invite couples

to mate so that after the nest is finished, B. ibis will

rest on its nest. Bubulcus ibis will find a suitable

place to build a nest that will be used during the

breeding season and do a display to invite their

partners (wing-waving) (Hoyo et al., 1992).

Table 1: Summary of individual behavior by Bubulcus ibis at Asam Kumbang crocodile farm

No Behavior Number of activities Frequency (%)

1 Preening 386 52.66

2 Sunbathing 47 6.41

3 Self-comfort 193 26.33

4 Stretching 101 13.77

5 Resting 4 0.54

IMC-SciMath 2019 - The International MIPAnet Conference on Science and Mathematics (IMC-SciMath)

388

Figure 1: Number of individual Bubulcus ibis activities during 7 days of observation

Sunbathing behavior is carried out by B. ibis by

developing head feathers to respond to sunlight. The

stretching behavior is carried out by B. ibis by

gaping and moving or vibrating the mandible to flex

the beak muscles and cool (neutralize) body

temperature. Resting behavior is carried out B. ibis

with the aim to support body weight and enjoy sun

exposure. In the afternoon of B. ibis performs more

self-care behavior, bodily comfort, sunbathing,

stretching and resting which are sub-individual

behaviors. Stretching behavior is carried out by B.

ibis with the aim to cool (neutralize) his body

temperature, carried out by gaping, moving or

vibrating the mandible, this is because the weather

conditions especially the temperature in the area is

very hot and hot. This is in accordance with the

statement Sukarsono (2009), some environmental

factors that predominantly affect animal life are

temperature.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The individual behavior of cattle egret or Bubulcus

ibis in the Asam Kumbang crocodile farm consists

of 5 activities, namely: preening, sunbathing, self-

comfort, stretching, and resting behavior. In the

morning period the frequent behavior is preening,

which aims to clean and remove any small-sized

parasites such as lice on the surface of the body

feather.In the afternoon, the frequent behavior are

self-comfort, sunbathing, stretching and resting.

Factor affecting the individual behavior of B. ibis is

temperature condition of enviroment.

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