This Red Junglefowl, the ancestor of the domesticated chicken, has been busy since introduced as a pest control in the late 90’s in the oil palm plantations around the Lahad Datu area of Sabah.  Since then I have seen it, alone or in flocks, in both commercial palm cultivation and in forest, in various places along the east coast of Sabah.  We don’t know the genetic purity of the original birds introduced here but they were most likely derived from West Malaysian sources.  Still it is always nice to see one of these birds in the wilds of Sabah.

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.