Paitchau (also Gunung Paitchau, or Paitchao, or Paitxau; locally, Pai Tekau Ile) is a mountain in the

Tutuala Tutuala is a village and suco in the subdistrict of Tutuala ( Lautém District, East Timor). It is situated at the extreme eastern end of Timor. Its population at the 2004 census was 3,707. The subdistrict of Tutuala comprises two sucos, inc ...

subdistrict, Lautém District of

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...

. Situated within

Nino Konis Santana National Park The Nino Konis Santana National Park is East Timor's first national park. The park, established on 15 August 2007, covers . It links important bird areas such as Lore, Mount Paitchau, Lake Ira Lalaro, and Jaco Island. The park also includes o ...

, it is south of Lake Ira Lalaro. Though part of a mountain chain, Paitchau is an isolated mountain in the southern Sucos Mehara. It ranges in altitude from .

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

has classified the mountain and its surrounding region of as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...

of East Timor. The area contained within the Paitchau Range and Ira Lalaro is sparsely populated and contains several unique faunal and floral species.

Geography

Paitchau is a sharp peak, prominent from the southwest. The hill range is located in the extreme eastern part of Timor-Leste and it slopes towards the coastline of Lore and Silvicola which have coral reefs. The area is thinly populated and has diverse flora and fauna. Its slopes are steep and the southern part of the range towards the coast is thickly forested. The range rises to a maximum height of or and is made up of massive primary

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, Dolomite (rock), dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathe ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

formations.

Flora and fauna

Paitchau is characterized by tropical moist deciduous lowland forest and tropical mixed

evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zon ...

. There is swamp land around Ira Lalaro. Paitchau is said to contain "the best remaining 'primary’ forest" in the country.

Fauna

;Avifauna There are 24 restricted-range species (listed below) in the Important Bird Area which includes the endangered '' Treron psittaceus'' (Timor green-pigeon), and the critically endangered '' Cacatua sulphurea'' (yellow-crested cockatoo). ;Critically endangered * Yellow-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua sulphurea'') ;Endangered * Timor green-pigeon (''Treron psittaceus'') ;Near threatened * Slaty cuckoo-dove (''Turacoena modesta'') * Pink-headed imperial-pigeon (''Ducula rosacea'') * Spot-breasted white-eye (''Heleia muelleri'') * Orange-banded thrush (''Zoothera peronii'') * White-bellied bushchat (''Saxicola gutturalis'') * Black-banded flycatcher (''Ficedula timorensis'') * Olive-shouldered parrot (''Aprosmictus jonquillaceus'') * Cinnamon-banded kingfisher (''Todiramphus australasia'') ;Least concern * Dusky cuckoo-dove (''Macropygia magna'') * Streaky-breasted honeyeater (''Meliphaga reticulata'') * Plain friarbird (''Philemon inornatu'') * Yellow-eared honeyeater (''Lichmera flavicans'') * Red-rumped myzomela (''Myzomela vulnerata'') * Plain gerygone (''Gerygone inornata'') *

Fawn-breasted whistler The fawn-breasted whistler (''Pachycephala orpheus'') is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is found on the islands of Timor and Wetar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest A forest is an ...

(''Pachycephala orpheus'') * Timor figbird (''Sphecotheres viridis'') * Olive-brown oriole (''Oriolus melanotis'') *

Timor stubtail The Timor stubtail (''Urosphena subulata'') is a species of bird in the family Cettiidae. It is found on Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between ...

(''Urosphena subulata'') * Timor leaf-warbler (''Phylloscopus presbytes'') * Timor blue-flycatcher (''Cyornis hyacinthinus'') * Red-chested flowerpecker (''Dicaeum maugei'') * Flame-breasted sunbird (''Nectarinia solaris'') * Tricoloured parrotfinch (''Erythrura tricolor'')

References

Bibliography

* * * *{{cite book, last1=Tiwary, first1=Shiv Shanker, last2=Choudhary, first2=P.S., title=Encyclopaedia Of Southeast Asia And Its Tribes (Set Of 3 Vols.), url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YdEjAQAAIAAJ, date=1 January 2009, publisher=Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd, isbn=978-81-261-3837-1 Mountains of East Timor Important Bird Areas of East Timor