Aha. We have another letter dealing with the same subject as our previous post. This second letter was written by a Peace Corps volunteer who was once based in Sagada.

The letter goes into details about the iSagada practice of bird catching or “ikik”. Back to the days when I was based in Sagada, I joined people (mga four or five times lang yata) who were going to Mt. Ampakaw to catch these migratory birds. It is exciting at first but it gets tiring because you have to climb this mountain at night and you have to do it during the cold months of the year. If I’m not mistaken this practice is now officially banned by the local government mainly because of the SARS/bird flu scare a few years back and also for environmental purposes. I’m not sure if the ban is effective.

Continue reading Bird Banding and Bird Catching: Another Letter From the Boondocks →