Articles from January 2011



Changeable Hawk-eagle

Changeable Hawk-eagle dark morph

Learned avian naturalists have spent considerable time delving into the taxonomic ranking of  crested hawk-eagles.  From a birdwatcher point of view, the resident crested hawk-eagle being polymorphic and having 2 main morphs, earns itself the name “Changeable”, with the dark morphs being more common.  Mainly a forest bird, it is also seen at forest edge, no doubt hoping for an easy meal.  Race in Borneo Nisaetus cirrhatus limnaetus.

Little Spiderhunter

Let’s start MMXI with a common resident found throughout the lowlands.  The Little Spiderhunter Arachnothera longirostra is also probably the easiest of the spiderhunters here to identify being the only one with a white throat.   Usually you will see it zipping through the lower storey of the forest, stopping only to feed on the nectar of banana and ginger flowers.