Borneo Birds

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.