Borneo Birds

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.