Borneo Birds

Olive-backed Sunbird female

Olive-backed Sunbird male

The Olive-backed Sunbird Cinnyris jugularis is the most common sunbird in urban areas around Borneo.  It is also found in the mangroves and plantations while its altitude range goes up to 1,500m.  While seemingly the closest relative we have to the hummingbirds, sunbirds here can only hover momentarily, more often perching while feeding. Their nests can often be seen hanging from telephone wires and eaves of buildings while nestings on low plants are not uncommon.

Around Kota Kinabalu and during this time of the year, you can see all 6 species of Egrets, from the the most common Eastern Cattle Egret to the least common the visiting Chinese Egret.  Enjoy!

Great Egret

Intermediate Egret

Little Egret

Pacific Reef Egret dark morph

Chinese Egret

Eastern Cattle Egret

Common Coot by Ck Leong

Last month while birding in Nepal, the Common Coot Fulica atra was a common bird in ponds and rivers.  At the Phewa Lake in Porkara, congregations in the hundreds were sighted daily.  This morning at a little swamp south of Kota Kinabalu, I was looking at the same bird.  It was only after a while that it occurred to me that the Common Coot was a rare vagrant in Borneo.  What extraordinary luck!  I had stopped there to take some pictures of the Wandering Whistling Duck, a common species here.  There was only 1 Coot that I saw and it was an immature with the frontal shield yet to be fully developed.

Long-tailed Broadbill by Ck Leong

Due to the difficulty in getting to the Trus Madi mountain range where the Long-tailed Broadbill Psarisomus dalhousiae is common, this beautiful bird is locally considered to be quite a twitch.  My friend Jason spotted this pair carrying nest material along the Tambunan road earlier this week.  Many years ago in the same area I saw a party of 5 birds.  My only other big encounter was in Cuc Phuong National Park near Hanoi in north Vietnam about 4 years ago when I saw a party of 30 to 40 moving through the forest in a fantastic and noisy spectacle.  It is difficult to forget the brilliance of this bird.

Along the seafront of Kota Kinabalu, the Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybridus can be easily seen.  During the winter migration, birds are usually in non-breeding or juvenile plumages.  The flight is absolutely delightful,  broken only when they plunge into the water for fish.