Description
The Candaba Marshland (popularly known as Candaba Swamp) is a 32,000 hectare area composed mainly of freshwater ponds, swamps, and marshes with surrounding areas of seasonally flooded grassland and arable land on a vast alluvial plain. The area is submerged in water during wet season and used as farmland during dry season. The entire Candaba town was declared as a bird sanctuary by virtue of a municipal resolution last 2004 which prohibits hunting and poaching of all kinds of wild birds.
Location
The Candaba Marshland is located in the town of Candaba,Pampanga bounded by the towns of Baliuag, San Ildefonso, and San Miguel in Bulacan; San Luis and Arayat in Pampanga; and Cabiao, Nueva Ecija. Within the Candaba Marshland is a 72 hectare privately-initiated protected area called the Candaba Swamp Wildlife Reserve where migratory and endemic birds flock and thrive.
Significance
Candaba Swamp was recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA) with code PH007 and is being applied to be included as a Ramsar Site. There is also a proposal to include the site in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) Site Network.
Bird Biodiversity
The CSBS accommodates around 5,000 to 10,000 birds species annually. There are about 57 species of migratory birds found in the area that includes the following:
- Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
- Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)
There are also sightings of the following rare migratory birds in the area:
- Chinese pond Heron(Ardeola bacchus)
- Common pochard ( Aythya ferina)
- Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) and
- Black-faced sponbill (Platalea minor)
Grey Heron 
Black-winged Stilt