Piding is very well known in Calayan Island, north of the Philippines. Its a flightless bird belonging to the Rallidae family (rail, moorhen and coots).
Gallirallus calayanensis (featured picture).
I've developed a some kind of interest with avifauna just this week. Actually, I started checking out dog pictures and ended up reading mostly bird breeds from wiki. I even called my mom to ask for the English term of
Tikling, a local bird, where the international favorite dance from the country ~
Tinikling, was based on.
Eto mas malupet... with confidence, she said Philippine Rail.
Tumblingan na ito!
Mother.... may wiki ka ba dyan sa utaksis mo? I thought.
Do you know that there are extinct birds in the country?
Sulu Bleeding-heart,
Gallicolumba menagei (Tawitawi, Philippines, late 1990s?)
Negros Fruit-dove,
Ptilinopus arcanus (Negros, Philippines, late 20th century?)
Tawitawi Small Buttonquail,
Turnix sylvatica suluensis (Tawitawi, Philippines, mid-20th century)
Luzon Sarus Crane,
Grus antigone luzonica (Luzon, Philippines, late 1960s)
Catanduanes Bleeding-heart,
Gallicolumba luzonica rubiventris (Catanduanes, Philippines, late 20th century?)
Basilan Bleeding-heart,
Gallicolumba crinigera bartletti (Basilan, Philippines, mid-20th century?)
Siquijor Colasisi,
Loriculus philippensis siquijorensis (Siquijor, Philippines, 1990s)
Sulu Reddish Scops Owl,
Otus rufescens burbidgei (Sulu, Philippines, mid-20th century)
Samar Bay Owl,
Phodilus badius riverae (Samar, Philippines, mid-20th century)
Luzon Whitehead's Swiftlet,
Collocalia whiteheadi whiteheadi (Luzon, Philippines, 20th century?)
Ticao Tarictic Hornbill,
Penelopides panini ticaensis (Ticao, Philippines, 1970s)
Negros Celestial Monarch,
Hypothymis coelestis rabori (Negros and possibly Sibuyan, Philippines, late 20th century?)
Cebu Bar-bellied Cuckoo-shrike,
Coracina striata cebuensis (Cebu, Philippines, early 20th century)
Cebu Blackish Cuckoo-shrike,
Coracina coerulescens altera (Cebu, Philippines, early 20th century?)
Marinduque Blackish Cuckoo-shrike,
Coracina coerulescens deschauenseei (Marinduque, Philippines, late 20th century?)
Cebu Dark-throated Oriole,
Oriolus xanthonotus assimilis (Cebu, Philippines, early 20th century)
Cebu Streak-breasted Bulbul,
Ixos siquijorensis monticola (Cebu, Philippines, early 20th century)
On the lighter scale, there are newly discovered (or documented) birds in the country too!
2001 - Bukidnon Woodcock,
Scolopax bukidnonensis2004 - Calayan Rail,
Gallirallus calayanensisThere are 612 of known bird species in the country in which 194 are endemic and 67 are endangered. A good example of an endangered (critical level) bird specie is the Philippine Eagle (
Pithecophaga jefferyi). Tsk tsk tsk.
I
sa pang ta-tumbling tayo na info
ay ito. According to wiki, most of the Pinoys misidentified what maya specie was our former national bird. We all thought it was the brown common maya or known as the Tree Sparrow,
Passer montanus but actually it was the Black-headed Munia,
Lonchura atricapilla, another subspecies of the TricolouredMunia
Wala lang.. just want to share my recent online readables.
References used:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_species_new_to_science_described_in_the_2000shttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinct_birdshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_the_Philippineshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critically_endangered_specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_sparrowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricoloured_Muniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-headed_Muniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cari%C3%B1osa 
