The Story of Barn Owl in Borneo

In the beginning, there was no Barn Owl in Borneo until oil palm came along.

"Rats have caused serious damage to oil palm in certain parts of Sabah. Barn owls were first introduced from Peninsula Malaysia in 1990 to 1992 by Sawit Kinabalu Berhad (formerly Sabah Land Development Board). It had since established well in Klias Estate/Settlement Scheme, Beaufort. Rat attacks in terms of palms with fresh damages of FFB had dropped considerably after the introduction of barn owls to quite an acceptable level without the need of any baiting. Occupancy rates of nest boxes in 1999 were in the region of around 50 to 60 per cent, indicating the owls introduced are still there and are multiplying. The role of barn owls in rat control can be important in future as rats are expected to adapt and establish itself in oil palm plantations in tandem with the rapid expansion of this crop in Sabah. "
{Abstract from The introduction of Barn Owl (Tyto alba) to Sabah for rat control in oil palm plantations [2000] by Hoong, H.K. (Sawit Kinabalu Berhad, Jalan Tuaran, 88300, K. K. Sabah, Malaysia.}

"In 1990 six pairs were carried from Peninsular Malaysia to Sabah on behalf of the Sabah Land Development Corporation [Board] (SLDC). They were released at Beaufort on 31 Jan 1990. First breeding was noticed in Jul 1991, and by mid 1996 it was estimated that there were about 50 locally bred birds. Altogether 24 birds were brought in by SLDC. Three pairs were brought in to Sabah by Pacific Cocoa Plantations and Pamol, but these failed to occupy the nest boxes provided. Three pairs were taken to Pekaka Estate near Miri, Sarawak, which apparently did not occupy boxes provided and may have been shot. Three pairs were taken to Batu Niah Estate, Sarawak, but there was no follow-up information on these."
{Quote from The Birds of Borneo, Fourth Edition, B. E. Smythis.}

The second known translocation program was carried out in 2003 which involved 5 pairs of Tyto alba introduced  to  the  Sarawak  rice  field  project  at  Gedung,  Samarahan  area  from  Peninsular Malaysia  (pers.  Comm.,  Hafidzi). Unfortunately  there  was  no  follow-up  on  the  status  of  the translocated batch. 16 individuals (Tyto alba javanica) were again introduced to FGV Sahabat 06, Lahad Datu, Sabah.
{Quote from Propagation of Barn owls in an Oil Palm Plantation of Sabah: FGV’s Experience, by Zainal Abidin, Cik Mohd Rizuan; M.N., Hafidzi; Hamid, Noor Hisham; Salim, Hasber. }, a paper presented in 2016, no date of Lahad Datu introduction was mentioned, but should be before presentation of that paper.

From the above introductions, it would be logical to deduce that even if they were successful in their new habitats, their number would still be relatively small, and  hardly seen outside areas that they were first released.

Birders do not usually bird in oil palm plantations and ordinary birders do not get to access oil palm plantations owned by Sawit Kinabalu and FGV, hence hardly any Barn Owl sighting was reported from Borneo.

On 3rd February 2018, at around 10 am, I received an image through WhatsApp from a birding friend of mine, the image showed an unmistakable Barn Owl. On further inquiry, he replied that the owl was big and the image was taken by one of his workers from inside his company's warehouse using smartphone. The location was near Jalan Tanjung Batu, Tawau, near the seaside and not far from Tawau town..

After confirming with him the location, we both mobilized ourselves and rushed home to take our camera equipment. The Owl was still inside the warehouse when we arrived, it perched on one of those wooden beams, struts, rafters or whatever it is called, oblivious of the forklift that was moving about inside the warehouse. It did flew and perch further away if we got too near to it. By the way, those beams were at least 20 feet from the ground.

The warehouse is at least 10,000 sq ft., constructed with solid brick wall from ground up, have one main gate and no window, ventilation opening covered with wire mesh are located just below the roof, to keep out rats and other pests. As it was a Saturday, the warehouse would be locked later for the weekend, we were a bit worried that it might starve if it could not find its way out.

On Monday morning, workers returned but could not locate it anymore, it must have exited from the same breach that had admitted it earlier.

From the images (I believe these are the first images of Barn Owl from Borneo, the first one was taken by the warehouse worker, of course, lol.), there is no apparent sign of captivity. So, is this only an odd strayed bird or the Barn Owls are spreading out from Oil Palm Plantations looking for greener pastures? Let's wait and see.

{Edited on 21 July 2018: On 16 July 2018, Mr Lim was alerted of an Owl perched on one of the ceiling joists of the same warehouse by his worker. It later turned out to be another Barn Owl, which has a darker colorization on face and upper breast, it,  too rested there during the day and no where to be found the next morning. 

The image of this individual is here.

It looks like we might have more than one individual in that area, we shall see in time to come. }

Happy birding.

Photodocument of Wild Birds of Borneo.

Standard References for my blog.

The birds of Tawau Hills Park

Okay, its time to get back to Borneon birds.

I will talk about Tawau Hills Park today, the following passage is taken from my Naturalist's Guide to The Birds of Borneo.

"Tawau Hills Park is an unlogged water catchment for the surrounding areas. Gunung Magdalena within the park reaches over 1,000m above sea level. Most of Borneo's lowland birds have been recorded here, but the thick forest cover and dense undergrowth do not make observation easy."

This summarises why my bird photography buddies and myself, being resident of Tawau, do not make the Park as our first choice for bird photography. Many birds are evidently there, easily heard but hard to see and even harder to photograph.

Being an unlogged forest, trees are tall with canopies only visible over patches of forest openings, which are created by fallen trees that pulled the surrounding branches, liana and the attached epiphytic growths to the forest floor, creating a temporary opening that would last until the new growth takes over. The thick forest cover and lush undergrowth block most of the light and make the dim forest floor extraordinary challenging to bird photography.

 Typical forest floor scene in Tawau Hills Park.

Typical forest floor scene in Tawau Hills Park.

However, knowing well that bird photography is more luck than skill, we did visit there occassionally over the years. In photography, when you are at the right place at the right time, you will be rewarded,  and here I share some of the bird images that I took at Tawau Hills Park, with some birds which are considered quite rare in other areas.

 Scaly-crowned Babbler Malacopteron cinereum, quite regularly seen here. The very similar looking Rufous-crowned Babbler Malacopteron magnum is also frequently heard and seen.

 A pair of Wreath Hornbill Rhyticeros undulatus, stopping over on top of a  far away tree.

 White-crowned Hornbill Aceros comatus one of the scarcer Bornean hornbill.

 Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker Prionochilus maculatus, one of the Bornean forest flowerpeckers.

 Stock-billed Kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis cyanopteryx, a regular at the lotus pond behind the chalets.

 Grey-headed Babbler Stachyris poliocephala, one of the rarer babblers in Sabah, much shyer and harder to photograph.

 Horsfield's Babbler Trichastoma sepiarium, a locally common understorey skulking babbler, similar looking the Short-tailed Babbler Trichastoma malaccense.

 Juv. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica, an abundant migrant from the north, numerous birds perch on the power lines outside the Park, including pale looking juveniles like this.

 Blue-eared Kingfisher Alcedo meninting, this one has its entire bill black.

Rufous-backed Kingfisher Ceyx erithaca motleyi, a Sabah specialty.

 Javan Hawk-Cuckoo Hierococcyx fugax.

 Scarlet-rumped Trogon Harpactes duvaucelii,  a smaller and friendlier trogon.

 Pacific Swallow Hirundo tahitica, this one shows the bluish upperparts nicely.

 Silver-rumped Spinetail Rhaphidura leucopygialis, I do not know of anywhere else that this species fly so low to enable you to photograph its upperparts.

 

 Female Asian Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi, this species is considered fairly common deep inside the Park.

 Bushy Crested Hornbill Anorrhinus galeritus are quite regularly heard and seen in the Park, also seen feeding on oil palm fruits in the surrounding plantations. 

Brown Wood Owl Strix leptogramica is the resident owl of the Park Headquarters.

Blue-banded Kingfisher Alcedo euryzona  a not so common Bornean kingfisher is resident of the lotus pond behind the chalets.

Black-headed Pitta Pitta ussheri,a Sabah endemic.

 

Happy birding.

Photodocument of Wild Birds of Borneo.

Standard References for my blog.