Pale-bellied Myna/Makassar Myna update 2018

Here are photos of a recent (28 September 2018) evening visit to Tinagat in Tawau, Sabah, where the Makassar Myna (Pale-bellied Myna) Acridotheres cinereus was first located in Sabah in 2008.

I am happy to see many of them there, mixing with Javan Myna Acridotheres javanicus. 

There are even some individuals with intermediate color, possible interbreeding may be. 

The earlier posts of this species in Tawau, Sabah can be found in the following links.

http://borneobirds.blogspot.com/2009/11/jungle-myna-new-bird-for-sabah.html

http://borneobirds.blogspot.com/2011/02/pale-bellied-myna.html

Happy birding.

Birding with Sifu Karim Madoya on 29th October 2011

Went to KK for a seminar on 28th October, took the opportunity to do some birding in Penampang paddy fields with sifu Karim on 29th October before coming back to Tawau. I was lucky to record three lifers on that day.

Penampang paddy fields has been very very "hot" in October with sighting of some very very rare vagrants of Borneo. They are Oriental Plover Charadrius veredus,  Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Calidris acuminata, Ruff Philomachus pugnax, Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus,   Little Curlew Numenius minutus, and Black-capped Kingfisher Halcyon pileata. Most of them are passage migrants and only stopping by for refuel, they will continue their journey southward after refueling.The window to take pictures of them is, therefore,  only a few days at the most, sometimes even shorter.

Thanks to Karim who took the trouble to fetch me from my hotel at 6.00 am and spent the whole day with me. 

The morning started quite slowly with plenty of Wood Sandpipers Tringa glareola around the area while we were scanning for Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Calidris acuminata which was photographed the day before,  but we could not locate it.

While scanning, I took photo of this small group of endemic Dusky Munia Lonchura fuscan. They are everywhere around the paddy fields here but not as common in Tawau due to shortage of similar habitats there.

Dusky Munia

Greater Painted Snipe Rostrayula benghalensis is also a common bird here but I have yet to see one in Tawau, the scarcity is also due to lack of suitable habitats. Even though they are common, to get a clear photograph of this species is easier said than done as it is a very shy bird and seldom come to the open.My best effort was this pair partly hidden behind some long grass, this was my first lifer for the day.

Greater Painted Snipe Female

Greater Painted Snipe Male

We later tried to photograph the ever popular Red Avadavat Amandava amandava, where a small feral population has established here and I think they should be doing fine as evidence by a juvenile with an adult male, furthermore, I also found them here in April this year.

An immature Plaintive Cuckoo Cacomantis merulinus came to perch on the wire which was shared with the Red Avadavat.

Plaintive Cuckoo

While we were leaving, we spotted this rare 1st winter Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus foraging in a shallow drain, it was feeding there for a good 3 to 5 minutes, affording us some good photographic opportunities to get a sharp image. This was of my second lifer.

Red-necked Phalarope

We continued to Sugud Penampang to try our luck, hoping to photograph the elusive Banded Kingfisher Lacedo pulchella, but the place was very quiet and I only saw some young Orange-bellied Flowerpecker Dicaeum trogonostigma and a Yellow-eared Spiderhunter Arachnothera chrysogenys feeding on a fruiting tree.

 Yellow-eared Spiderhunter

Immature Orange-bellied Flowerpecker

We went back to the paddy fields in the afternoon and saw this group of Crested Myna Acridotheres cristatellus on an overhead cable. This species originates from caged birds and is evidently well established in this area, however, I have not seen one of this in Tawau yet.

Crested Myna

We were rewarded not so long after with this rare Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, my third lifer. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is a scarce winter passage migrant here, two birds were seen that day.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Happy birding.

Photodocument of Wild Birds of Borneo.

Standard References for my blog.

Birding with Sifu Jason in Penampang on 17th April 2011

Was in KK for a seminar, took time off to shoot some photos of birds with sifu Jason, who was very helpful to bring me around in his car. The target birds for the session were Red Avadavat  Amandava amandava,  Buff-banded Rail Gallirallus philippensis and Banded Kingfisher Lacedo pulchella. Though they are regularly seen in Penampang and some other localities, I have yet to see one.

We set out at 6.00 am from KK, when we reached the Red Avadavat site, I was surprised to note that it is just a patch of land reclaimed with sandstones and clay, sparsely grown with long and short grass, sandwiched between paddyfields and the busy Penampang highway, we parked our car on the road shoulder and started looking. They were quickly sighted far away and were seen feeding on the dry earth with a group of Chestnut Munia Lonchura atricappilla.

Red Avadavat, colorful and cute, is a popular cage bird, and as a result has been introduced to many parts of the world. Borneo population is likewise introduced, race is still uncertain for the Sabah birds, first recorded in June 1969 in Kota Kinabalu, it has since established. Its small size couple with its habits of foraging on earth and underneath short growing grass make them very inconspicuous and must have been overlooked most of the time.

 Female or non-breeding male

Breeding male

Sharing habitat with them are the followings.

 

 Adult and Juvenile Scaly-breasted Munia Lonchura punctulata, this bird is rare in East coast of Sabah, I have yet to see one in Tawau.

 Chestnut Munia

Yellow-bellied Prinia Prinia flaviventris

Fork-tailed Swift Apus pacificus, an unexpected lifer, having heard Sifu Jason said he saw one at the vicinity a couple of days ago.

Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis moulting into breeding plumage. I have not seen one in full breeding, and they have not been recorded to breed in Borneo.

Crested Myna Acridotheres cristatellus, another introduced species, first recorded in Tanjung Aru in 1978.

However, luck was not with me when we went to search for the Buff-banded Rail at the same habitat, and rain began to fall when we reached the forest for Banded Kingfisher, both were no where to be found. So they will remain as targets for my next trip.

Happy birding.

Photodocument of Wild Birds of Borneo

Standard References for my blog

Pale-bellied Myna

Further to my earlier posts on the new bird of Sabah, Borneo; here and here.

The birds had been identified as Pale-bellied Myna Acridotheres cinereus, an endemic species of Southern Sulawesi. They could have been introduced here as caged birds.

They have been here for a number of years now. A visit recently showed that they are doing very well, I saw about 40 to 50 birds on a bare tree, flocking with some Asian Glossy Starling Aplonis panayensis and a darker individual suspected to be a Javan Myna Acridotheres javanicus.

Here are the pictures.

The darker bird in the middle is suspected to be a Javan Myna.



Happy birding.

Photodocument of Wild Birds of Borneo

Standard References for my blog

Birding in KK with Sifu Karim 20th November 2009 (Part 1)

Edited on 1 May 2018 text with green backgound.

There was a seminar on 20th November 2009 in Kota Kinabalu I wanted to attend and went there on the night of Thursday (19th November). Touched down  KK at 11.00 pm after flight delay. Spent the night resting at Capital Hotel.

Woke up next morning, at first wanted to go to take a look at the sea front to try my luck but saw these instead right outside the hotel window on a tree along Jalan Tun Razak. Have to take pictures of them as I find Pink-necked Green Pigeon Treron vernans are not that common in Tawau.

Pink-necked Green Pigeon 

 

  Pied triller Lalaga nigra

After taking the shots of the above from my room, I went to the sea front but there wasn't much activity there. Took picture of this landmark Blue Marlin along the sea front for record.

Kota Kinabalu landmark

The morning until 2.00 pm was occupied by the seminar. Fetched Sifu Karim at about 2.30 pm at Tanjung Aru Town and went straight to Tanjung Aru beach to photograph the famous resident feral colony of Blue-naped Parrot Tanygnatus lucionensis. Here it is, my first lifer for this trip. Blue-naped Parrot occurs naturally on Si Amil, Maratua and Mantanani islands, but population on Mantanani has been extinguished, their best hope now is in Tanjung Aru. (Phillips, 2009)

Blue-naped Parrot

 

Blue-naped Parrot

After photographing the Blue-naped Parrot, we left for Penampang to look for Snipe. Snipes and other migratory water birds that frequent the inland fresh water fields, marshes and swamps during  northern winter are not easy to find in Tawau as there is virtually no padi field in Tawau. We reached our destination and found the sky was overcast.

 

Penampang padi fields

Sifu Karim and me

We scanned the fields for snipes but there was none to be seen, however, there were plenty of Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola, Black-winged Stilts Himantopus himantopus, Little Egret Egretta garzetta, Great Egret Ardea albus, (Now Eastern Great Egret Ardea modesta) Intermediate Egret Egretta intermedia (Now Ardea intermedia),  Chestnut Munia (Now Black-headed Munia) Lonchura atricapilla, Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia and presumably White-winged Tern  Chlidonias leucopterus or Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida flying and skimming  in the distant water-filled fields.

Amongst the numerous Chestnut Munia (Now Black-headed Munia), we found this Scaly-breasted Munia Lonchura punctulata, foraging with the large Chestnut Munia (Now Black-headed Munia) flock,  which is my 2nd lifer for the trip. Java Sparrow Padda oryzivora (Now Lonchura oryzivora)is easier to spot in Tawau than Scaly-breatsed Munia. The Scaly-breasted Munia is quite easy to spot among the Chestnut Munia (Now Black-headed Munia) flock once you get used to it as its color is not as brownish as the Chestnut Munia (Now Black-headed Munia).

 

Scaly-breasted Munia

On a branch far far away, this Peregrine Falcon Falcon peregrinus  perched. Peregrine Falcon is reputed to be the fastest raptor in the world,  stoop speeds certainly reach 160 km/h, sometimes possibly 250 km/h (on occasion allegedly 400+ km/h), feeds mainly on small birds and bats. Borneo has its resident Peregrine Falcon race (F. p. ernesti) which is a rare bird in montane forests. and in hilly areas of lowlands This bird is the migratory race, and my 3rd lifer for the day. Phillips mentioned that migrant race as peregrinator (Phillips, 2009), whereas the more popularly accepted race migrating to Borneo is either F. p. japonensis or F. p. calidus, where the latter is a little paler than the former.

 

Peregrine Falcon

A flock of Crested Myna Acridotheres cristatellus (4th Lifer) was found feeding from a tree quite a distance away. Crested Myna has short crest and ivory colored bill. I have not seen Crested Myna nor Javan Myna Acridotheres javanicus in Tawau, though they seem to be quite common in Sandakan and here.

Crested Myna

 

 Crested Myna below a White-breasted Woodswallow

As the light began to fade, a pair of this rare bird flew in, albeit perched far away, its appearance was totally unexpected, a real bonus. The Blacked-collared Starling Sturnus nigricollis (Now Gracupica nigricollis) (5th Lifer) is a large bird, as big as a Hill Myna (Now Common Hill Myna) Gracula religiosa and a scarce vagrant in Borneo.

Blacked-collared Starling

 

Blacked-collared Starling

Happy birding.
End of Part 1, to be continued.

Photodocument of Wild Birds of Borneo #283 to #287.

Makassar Myna - New Bird for Sabah

Edited on 1 May 2018 text with green backgound.

Further to my post here on the Jungle Myna Acridotheres fuscus (now Makassar Myna Acridotheres cinereus) in Tawau, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia. We photographed them again on 24th October 2009 at the same vicinity of the area that we captured them on camera before, on 13th May 2007 and 12th June 2008 respectively. We saw four birds this time, two on a high wire, looking gorgeous, clean and healthy, and two on an old coconut tree stump far away, apparently just after a shower, and were seen occasionally  quarreling with the Asian Glossy Starling Aplonis panayensis who are using the coconut tree stump as nest. 

 

  

 

Happy birding.

REFERENCES
MacKinnon, J. and Phillipps, K. (1993) A field Guide to the birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mann, C.F. (2008) The birds of Borneo, an annotated Checklist. Peterbourough, UK: British Ornithologists' Union.

Myers S. (2009) A field Guide to the birds of Borneo. London, UK: New Holland Publishers.

Phillipps, Q & Phillipps, K. (2009) Phillipps' field guide to the birds of Borneo, Oxford, UK: John Beaufoy Publishing Ltd.

Sheldon, F.H., Moyle, R.G. and Kennard, J. (2001) Ornithology of Sabah: History, Gazetteer, Annotated Checklist, and Bibliography. Washington D.C.:The American Ornithologists' Union.

Smythies, B.E. and Davison, G.W.H. (1999) The birds of Borneo. Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia: Natural History Publications (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd. and the Sabah Society.

Makassar Myna - New Bird for Sabah

Edited on 30 March 2018 text with green background.

This species is now  Makassar Myna Acridotheres cinereus.

Mynas are gregarious birds, generally in more open habitat.  In Southeast Asia, Jungle Myna Acridotheres fuscus is classified as common or locally common in some areas (Robson 2008).

Jungle Myna  which is not listed in all the field guides on Borneo currently available has been photographed in Tawau on two occasions, in May 2007 and in June 2008. Mr. Kong Ket Leong and Mr Ku Kok On were there in June 2008 and also noted the peculiarity of the birds. The photos include both Juvenile and adult. Will keep this blog updated if new photos are available in future.

 They are suspected to be either from captive origin or from a ship.

Juv. Jungle Myna  May 2007

 

 

Adult Jungle Myna  June 2008

Happy birding.

REFERENCES

Eaton, J.A., van Balen, B., Brickle, N.W. & Rheindt, F.E. (2016). Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago, Greater Sundas and Wallacea. Lynx Edicions. Barcelona.

MacKinnon, J. and Phillipps, K. (1993) A field Guide to the birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mann, C.F. (2008) The birds of Borneo, an annotated Checklist. Peterbourough, UK: British Ornithologists' Union.

Sheldon, F.H., Moyle, R.G. and Kennard, J. (2001) Ornithology of Sabah: History, Gazetteer, Annotated Checklist, and Bibliography. Washington D.C.:The American Ornithologists' Union.

Smythies, B.E. and Davison, G.W.H. (1999) The birds of Borneo. Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia: Natural History Publications (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd. and the Sabah Society.