Kowloon Park Biodiversity
by Thomas Gomersall
Hemmed in by the ever-visible high-rises of Tsim Sha Tsui, and with no shortage of sculptures, fountains, picnic benches and wide, tiled paths, it’s not as easy to lose yourself in nature in Kowloon Park as it is in Hong Kong Park. While there are plenty of trees and other plants, there are few places where you can really immerse yourself amongst the greenery and forget about the urban jungle just outside.
Nevertheless, Kowloon Park offers plenty of options for wildlife-watching. Aside from most of the common urban bird species such as magpie robins, red-whiskered bulbuls and masked laughingthrushes, Kowloon Park is also home to some less frequently seen, but much more interesting wildlife, if one only knows where to look. Here are a few:
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax): The flamingo pond is rightfully one of Kowloon Park’s most famous attractions, particularly for those who like exotic waterbirds. But alongside the dazzling flamingoes and rare Hawaiian nene geese lives an equally striking native bird: the black-crowned night heron. Despite its name, it is often active during the day as well, and from March to September, can be seen roosting in trees in large breeding colonies (Viney et al, 2005, p. 40), including at the flamingo pond. It is also possible to find a few stragglers hanging around outside of the breeding season, however, perched at the edge of the water waiting to ambush small fish (Allcock, 2018).
Greater Short Nosed Fruit Bat (Cynopterus sphinx): This fruit bat may not be as eye-catching as the enormous flying foxes of Australia and central Africa, nor may it migrate to its favourite fruiting trees in huge flocks as they do. But then again, those bats can’t build their own shelters from nothing but leaves. Through chewing the leaves of the Chinese fan palm (a common plant in urban parks), it is able to make a tent-like shelter out of them in which a single male roosts with up to 28 females and their young (Shek, 2006, p. 117). This — once you learn to recognise such a structure — makes it perhaps the easiest bat to find in Hong Kong during the day. It is an important seed disperser in Hong Kong (particularly of figs), either depositing fruit seeds away from their parent tree in its dung or spitting out the seeds of large fruits after sucking out their juices. It also feeds on nectar, making it an important pollinator as well (Shek, 2006, p. 117).
Japanese Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus abramus): If you’re standing outside at twilight and you see bats flying in the sky around you, there’s a good chance that some or even many of them will be Japanese pipistrelles: Hong Kong’s most common and widespread bat species. It often roosts in the ceilings of old buildings (although it is not unknown for it to roost inside air-conditioning units too) and feeds on flying insects like moths, flying ants and mosquitoes. It is very curious of moving objects and may be tempted to fly close to you if you move around enough (Shek, 2006, p. 181, p. 371).
Chinese Banyan (Ficus microcarpa): Among plants, this one definitely holds a special place in the hearts of Hong Kongers, to the point where the toppling of a 100-year-old banyan in Tsim Sha Tsui during Typhoon Mangkhut made the newspapers (Wong & Zhang, 2018). This reverence makes sense as parts of the Chinese banyan have been used in traditional medicines to treat ailments such as flu, malaria, bronchitis and rheumatism (Xu et al, 2009). In addition, its fruit is a popular food source for several bird and bat species in Hong Kong (Corlett, 2006). Many banyans grow in Kowloon Park but one of the most spectacular grows on the banks of the pond of the Chinese Garden.
Alexandrine Parakeet (Psittacula eupatria): Just as Hong Kong Park is a stronghold for the yellow-crested cockatoo in Hong Kong, so is Kowloon Park for another introduced parrot, the Alexandrine parakeet (Tipper, 2016, p. 90). Like the cockatoo, this parakeet is a popular cage bird, with an estimated 57,772 being imported to countries outside of its natural range between 1981 and 2014. However, they are fairly expensive and are very loud, which can lead to owners abandoning them in the wild and the establishment of feral populations like the one in Hong Kong. In its native range, it occupies a wide range of habitats, from forests to agricultural land and eats a wide range of food including fruit, seeds and nectar; traits that give it an adaptability useful for colonising urban areas (Ancillotto et al, 2016; Leisure and Cultural Services Department, 2019). It is distinguishable from the similar-looking (and also introduced) rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri) by its larger size and deep-red shoulder patches (Tipper, 2016, p. 90).
References:
· Allcock, J., interviewed by Thomas Gomersall, 2018, WWF — Hong Kong
· Ancillotto, L., Strubbe, D., Menchetti, M. and E. Mori. 2016. ‘An overlooked invader? Ecological niche, invasion success and range dynamics of the Alexandrine parakeet in the invaded range’. Biological Invasions, vol. 18(2): 583pp.–595pp.
· Corlett, R.T. 2006. ‘Figs (Ficus, Moraceae) in urban Hong Kong, South China’. Biotropica, vol. 38(1): 116pp.–121pp.
· Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Common Wild Birds Seen in Urban Parks: Alexandrine Parakeet, [website], 2019, https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/green/birds/overview/bird_21.html, (Accessed: 2 October 2019).
· Shek, C.T. 2006. A field guide to the terrestrial mammals of Hong Kong, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Hong Kong SAR Government, Hong Kong. 117 pp., 181 pp., 371 pp.
· Tipper, R. 2016. A Naturalist’s Guide to the Birds of Hong Kong, John Beaufoy Publishing, United Kingdom. 90pp.
· Viney, C., Phillipps, K. and C.Y. Lam. 2005. The Birds of Hong Kong and South China. Information Services Department, Hong Kong SAR Government, Hong Kong. 40pp.
· Wong, O. and Zhang, K., ‘‘Time running out’ to save historic Hong Kong banyan tree felled by Typhoon Mangkhut’. South China Morning Post, 18 September 2018, https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2164706/historic-giant-banyan-tree-hong-kong-falls-victim (Accessed: 31 July 2019).
· Xu, H., Wang, X.M., Wei, X., Li, J.Y. and K. Liu. 2009. ‘A new chalcone from the aerial roots of Ficus microcarpa. Chinese Chemical Letters, vol. 20(5): 576pp.–578pp.
