Last October I took a photo of the male Rufous-collared Kingfisher Actenoides concretus at the Sepilok RDC and has been looking for a shot of the female ever since. On an extremely slow day at the Lok Kawi Zoological Park today, I got lucky and picked out this bird through a maze of vegetation. The female displays buff spots on dark green wings while the male has dark blue malar stripes and upperparts. Special thanks to my birding buddies.
Many birders have complained of the difficulty of finding the Red-crowned Barbet Megalaima rafflesii. I believe this is because most birders, including myself, seldom go birding in disturbed secondary forest where this is a common bird. On quite a few occasions, I have seen this barbet and also Blue-eared and Gold-whiskered barbets feeding on the ripe fruits of the Vitex (Verbenaceae) and other fruiting plants which are commonly found in secondary scrub.
I have seen many photos of the Crested Goshawk on the net and I thought perhaps one more wouldn’t dampen your appreciation for this superb accipiter. It is fairly common throughout the lowlands of Borneo, often seen circling slowly over treetops. When not in flight, it can be seen perched on even the shorter trees. Race in Borneo A. t. microstictus. Happy hunting!
Despite the fact that its plumage does not display the four or five colours normally associated with barbets, and that it whistles while others “took-truk”, it is still a member of the Asian barbets. The Brown Barbet lives in groups and is common throughout the lowlands of Borneo. In the northern part of Borneo, this subspecies Calorhamphus f. tertius displays a rufous-orange chin and throat while laying claims to Bornean endemicity.
Special thanks to G.W.H. Davison (The Birds of Borneo, 4th Edition, 1999) for putting away this discussion of an endemic “Bornean spiderhunter”. What we do have is this Arachnothera affinis (race A. a. everetti in Borneo) with heavy streaks extending from the chin to lower abdomen. You can find this bird easily around Poring Hotsprings, Danum Valley and the Rafflesia Forest Reserve. While on the field, care must be taken not to mistaken the Grey-breasted Spiderhunter (less heavy streaks, on upper breast) with this bird.
After numerous attempts I have finally done it, a half decent shot of the Bornean subspecies of the Crested Fireback Lophura i. nobilis. This bird has strong backing for it to be elevated to full species making it an Bornean endemic. The Bornean male bird’s dirty yellow central tail feathers and chestnut belly differentiates it from other races. A fairly common resident of lowland forest, it moves about on the forest floor in small parties. When disturbed it breaks into a run and is also capable of short flights. Many years ago, I saw a party of 5 birds crossing a river, 1 bird at a time, flying just above the water. I was quite impressed.
I have only seen the Tabon Scrubfowl Megapodius cumingii in the islands around Sabah and in Sulawesi but I have also been told that the bird is easily seen in the coastal areas around Pitas in northeast Sabah. This member of the Megapode family is known for its powerful feet which it uses to bury its eggs under a big mount of sand and vegetative material. The eggs are incubated by the heat generated by the decaying vegetation and solar heat on the sand. Its long mournful whistles give away its presence but will take off quickly if disturbed.
The days in northern Asia are getting longer and it is time for this beautiful Blue and White Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana wintering in Mt Kinabalu to start thinking about the forthcoming long and arduous flight back to its breeding ground. It had been a good stay here. We saw pairs of this flycatcher as well as first winter males. Some of them chose the cooler climes of mountain ranges while others basked in the sun of offshore islands. Be safe! See you in September.
This very striking bee-eater Merops viridis is common to the rivers and open lowland country of Borneo. It performs aerobatic flights at insects from its perch, each flight ever more graceful. On the Kinabatangan River, this year’s breeding must have been particularly difficult. Lots of later than usual rainfall have damaged many of the sandy banks where the bird favours for its breeding ground. It is still a common bird, favouring the birdwatcher in many locations.
I took time off from my schedule to photograph this treeswift Hemiprocne comata because a friend had a picture of it and I thought it was a really handsome bird. Its beautiful white facial whiskers stood out conspicuously from its dark blue head plumage. Usually in pairs, they behave more like flycatchers than true swifts. They make short flights at nearby insects before returning to their perch. Look out for them when you are birding in lowland forest in the Sunda region.