Bornean Bulbul Pycnonotus montis, a generally scare bird that is confined to secondary growths and forest edge in the mountains, 600m to 1,550m.
Found in G. Kinabalu; Crocker Range and foothills; G Trus Madi; Kaingaran; Lumaku; Malangkap; Sinsuran road; Tambunan; Telipok; Maliau Basin in Sabah, note that some of the records are from areas not exactly montane. Also found in Trusan; Kelabit Highlands and G Dulit in Sarawak.
The species was split by Fishpool & Tobias (2005) from Pycnonotus melanicterus, into five species; dispar (Ruby-throated Bulbul) in Sumatra, Java and Bali; gularis (Flame-throated Bulbul) in W Ghat and India; melanicterus (Black-capped Bulbul) in Sri Lanka; flaviventris (Black-crested Bulbul) in elsewhere in Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia; and montis (Bornean Bulbul) in Borneo.
The Bornean Bulbul has black head and crest, olive-green upper parts, yellow throat, yellowish green underparts, dark red iris and black bill.
Black-crested Bulbul P. flaviventris caecilli in Peninsular Malaysia has black throat and pale eyes.
Ruby-throated Bulbul P. dispar of Sumatra has red throat and dark iris.
This images were taken in Rafflesia Centre, a montane forest. This bird is locally common there.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Orange-headed Thrush
Orange-headed Thrush Zoothera citrina is a bird occuring from Pakistan to South China, Andamans, Nicobars, Southeast Asia and Sumatra.
It is a rare montane forest resident of Borneo, known from seven localities from Sabah; Gunung Kinabalu; Gunung Trus Madi; Crocker Range; Kaingaran; Malangkap; Rinangisan and Sinsuran road. One sight record from Gunung Palung National Park of Kalimantan Barat in December 1986 was suspected to be a migrant.
The Sabah bird is of the race Z. c. aurata which has a white bar on the wing coverts and without bars on ear-coverts.
It has a very sweet song consisting of a series of musical phrases. In Java this bird is a star performer in popular bird singing contests and large number are harvested from wild nests owned by farmers to train as songsters (Jepson, Birding Asia, 9).
It was usually photographed in Kinabalu Park, however, I photographed this one in Rafflesia Centre. One male bird was seen foraging in a fruiting tree late afternoon, and possibly the same bird seen again on the same tree the next day and photographed. This is my new photographed lifer bird of Borneo.
Male Orange-headed Thrush
It is a rare montane forest resident of Borneo, known from seven localities from Sabah; Gunung Kinabalu; Gunung Trus Madi; Crocker Range; Kaingaran; Malangkap; Rinangisan and Sinsuran road. One sight record from Gunung Palung National Park of Kalimantan Barat in December 1986 was suspected to be a migrant.
The Sabah bird is of the race Z. c. aurata which has a white bar on the wing coverts and without bars on ear-coverts.
It has a very sweet song consisting of a series of musical phrases. In Java this bird is a star performer in popular bird singing contests and large number are harvested from wild nests owned by farmers to train as songsters (Jepson, Birding Asia, 9).
It was usually photographed in Kinabalu Park, however, I photographed this one in Rafflesia Centre. One male bird was seen foraging in a fruiting tree late afternoon, and possibly the same bird seen again on the same tree the next day and photographed. This is my new photographed lifer bird of Borneo.
Happy birding.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Bornean Swiftlet and Glossy Swiftlet
Positive field identification of swiftlets is a real difficult thing to do, and with this latest split of montane Bornean Swiftlet Collocalia dodgei from Glossy Swiftlet C. esculenta (to some authority, Linchi Swiftlet C. linchi) (the lowland form of which also occur in montane habitats in Borneo), there will be endless arguments as to which is Bornean and which is Glossy.
Before this, Smythies (1999) as revised by G W H Davison listed this a White-bellied Swiftlet, with the montane Mt. Kinabalu form as C. esculenta dodgei and lowland form as C. e. cyanoptila. No Linchi Swiftlet from Smythties at that time due to confusions in physical characteristics to separate the two forms.
Moyle collected 3 individuals of C. esculenta cyanoptila from c.1500 m on the south side of Mt Kinabalu and 2 nestlings close to fledging (of unknown identity, presumed C. dodgei) from c.2730 m, also on the south side of Mt Kinabalu. The putative C. dodgei fledglings lacked the feather tuft on the hind toes, had white bellies and showed upperparts to be dark brown with a faint green gloss. The nest from which they were removed was built of rootlets, plant fibres and lichens attached to a beam in a hut on two sides with hardened saliva.
Moyle et al. summarise by saying;
Linchi Swiftlet C. linchi has a restricted distribution on various Sundaic islands and has a grey belly.
Bornean Swiftlet C. dodgei is differentiated by molecular data and in morphology, white belly and is a montane species.
Mann (2008) in his checklist of Borneo recognised this montane form as a distinct species but uses the name Linchi swiftlet C. linchi for this species.
Both Phillipps (2009) and Myers (2009) follow Moyle in their fieldguides for Birds of Borneo and listed this as Bornean swiftlet Collocalia dodgei.
These pictures were taken at montane altitudes, at about 1,600 meters showing what I assume to be Glossy Swiftlets. (Bear in mind that they are split based on DNA and not by physical appearance, physical feather color like bluish or greenish gloss and feather on hind toe are too environmental and moult dependent to be of real help in field identification.)
This might not be Bornean is also reinforced by the fact that the Bornean Swiftlets were collected at much higher altitude at Layang-layang by Moyle.
Taken in Gunung Alab Resort in 2009
Taken in Gunung Alab Resort in 2010
Taken in Gunung Alab Resort in 2009
Taken near Kinabalu Park HQ, these birds must be Glossy as birds near Park HQ have been established to be Glossy and not Bornean.
Happy birding.
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