RICE FIELDS AS SURROGATE WETLANDS: AVIAN DIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION INSIGHTS FROM NORTH SULAWESI, INDONESIA

. The bird species diversity in Sulawesi Island includes both native and introduced species. One type of bird habitat found on Sulawesi is rice paddies. These areas provide habitat due to the abundant food resources in rice paddy ecosystems. In this ecosystem, rice cultivation has several distinct phases: land preparation, planting, vegetative, mature generative (ready-to-harvest) and post-harvest. The study categorized bird species observed during various rice planting stages to collect biodiversity index data. We identified 33 bird species in the rice paddy ecosystem of North Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. These species represent various bird families, including Passeridae, Estrildidae, Pycnonotidae, Columbidae, Alcedinidae, Apodidae, Accipitridae, Ardeidae, Rallidae, Scolopacidae, Corvidae, and Phasianidae. The results obtained through analysis with PAST produced a Shannon Index of 2.384, which concluded that the diversity of bird species visiting rice fields in North Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi, Indonesia was included in the moderate category.