In this blog post I am going to talk about relatively common birds that I saw in Sarawak, but that are rare in Taiwan. There will be seven birds that I will share: the Brahminy Kite, White-breasted Woodswallow, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Western Hooded Pitta, Pied Triller, Scarlet Minivet, and the Collared Kingfisher.
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| Brahminy Kite |
Four of the seven birds were seen in and around Kuching, and quite effortlessly. I will arrange the birds in the order of which I saw them, the first being the White-breasted Woodswallow. This bird is very unique looking, with a grayish head and back, a large beak, and a white breast. Woodswallows are quite interesting because, despite their name, they are not swallows, but rather part of a group related to Corvids aka crows and ravens. They belong in the family Artamidae, and are related to butcherbirds and the Australian Magpie. Its behavior is similar to flycatchers. They are insectivores, sallying bugs from the sky. We saw this bird right outside our suite on the Kuching waterfront. As we were strolling alongside the river, we heard this babbler-like sound. I located the sound to a nearby tree, on a branch sitting motionless. It took me a moment to realize it was White-breasted Woodswallow, a vagrant in Taiwan. Even though there are no sightings of it in Taiwan recorded on Ebird, it appears in my field guide, so I have chosen to include it in this blog as well.
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| Brahminy Kite |
Next, is the Brahminy Kite. This is a very pretty raptor, with a white head and breast, the rest of its body being chestnut orange. This kite eats a wide range of food, including mammals, reptiles, fish, and other sea creatures. This bird is a very sacred bird both in India and in Borneo. In India, it is a Hindu god. The Iban people of Borneo consider the Brahminy Kite their god of War. These examples show how birds are also deeply entwined in different cultures around the world. This is an extremely rare bird in Taiwan, the first one only just being observed a couple years ago. We saw this bird on the waterfront, as we were taking a boat cruise on the river. I spotted a big bird flying away from us. Even though the light wasn’t great, I still managed to get an identifying picture. I got a much better picture of the Brahminy Kite at the library Julianna took us to. We were looking for the Stork-billed Kingfisher, but we didn’t see it, but instead I got a good look at this kite. It was flying around a little lake, probably looking for fish. This has always been a bird I've wanted to see, because it is so rare that a bird of prey is so colorful. I got a good photo of the kite, and a good look at the next bird as well.
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| Pied Triller |
The Pied Triller is in the Campephagidae family with cuckooshrikes and minivets. This bird has a white eyebrow, underbody, wings and rump, the crown, back, and wing tip all being black.It eats various insects and fruits. We saw this bird at the library, after the Brahminy Kite, we were kinda wandering around the park. When the Pied Triller flew to a branch above us, I was very pleased to get a picture before it flew off. The Pied Triller kind of reminds me of a minivet, but the body shape seems slightly different, with minivet slimmer than the Triller.
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| Collared Kingfisher |
Between the various trips we made with the travel agency, we had some spare time in our hands. I had read about a cool Orchid Garden across the water from where we lived, so on a pleasant Monday morning, we walked to the Garden. Along the way, we passed by the Astana, where the white Rajah used to live. We stopped midway because Dad saw a Common Iora, and we silently watched it hop around, it was a very peaceful moment. The bird seemed to know I didn’t bring my camera along, so it was in perfect light and super close. After we moved on, we heard a sound similar to the minivets back home, and sure enough, it was a Scarlet Minivet. It had an intense red underbody, red wing patch, the rest of its body jet black. The Gray-chinned Minivet back home paled in comparison, this was just simply a prettier bird. Similar to the Common Iora, it also knew I didn't bring my camera with us, it was almost like a little performance, just for us. Although not a rare bird, it is mostly seen in the offshore Islands of Taiwan, and is rarely seen on the mainland.
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| Collared Kingfisher right outside the ticket booth |
The last three birds were seen in two different places, two in Bako, one in Kubah. The two seen in Bako were the Collared Kingfisher and the White-bellied Sea-Eagle. The Collared Kingfisher is a stunning kingfisher, with a teal green crown and back, bright sky blue wings and tail, and a white collar and underbelly. It also comes equipped with a large beak, perfect for consuming large prey. For example: if close to the water, it will eat crabs and mudskippers, if further inland, it will eat lizards and other vertebrates along with large insects. We had actually seen this bird previously in Qigu, in the middle of nowhere, on a tiny little road packed with birders and photograghers alike, hoping to get the slightest glimpse of it. Not only that, we had to wait three hours in the scorching sun, just so we could see the rare vagrant. As we were being driven to Bako, I was looking out of the window in the hopes of seeing something exotic, when on a electric wire, stood a Collared Kingfisher, just out there in plain sight. As if that wasn’t enough, every hundred meters I would see another Collared Kingfisher chilling on a pole. I instantly regretted the three hours that I spent to see a bird that is as common as the Oriental Magpie of Taiwan here. But I guess that’s just birding!
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| A distant White-bellied Sea-Eagle |
The White-bellied Sea-Eagle is a big bird with a wingspan of over 200 centimeters. It has a white head, back, belly and tail. The rest of the body is gray, with a small head and large beak proportionally. Mainly found around large bodies of water, estuaries, reservoirs and forests in the vicinity. It eats a wide range of prey, including large fish, seabirds, bats, and other mammals. This bird is occasionally seen in Taiwan, but the timing never worked out. One is actually a resident of the ZengWen reservoir, but I just never have had the luck. While I was scrolling through the possible birds of Malaysia, this bird was listed as quite common, and indeed it was. Our trip to Bako was already awesome, but this bird made it perfect. On the first afternoon, after one of our many hikes, we were back at the canteen, when we spotted a large bird circling, I immediately knew it was the White-bellied Sea-Eagle. Later that day, we saw a whole group of them, five in total, flying around the beach, along with some Brahminy Kites, which would occasionally divebomb the Sea-Eagle, it was quite entertaining to watch.
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| White-bellied Sea-Eagle |
The last bird was seen on the trip to Kubah, the Western Hooded Pitta. This is a gorgeous pitta, with a black head, a sky blue wing patch, green body and a red abdomen. Favored habitat common among pitta, dense understory, and almost always seen close to the ground, forages along the ground. It feeds on all sorts of invertebrates, flipping leaves in search of caterpillars, ants. This is an extremely rare bird in Taiwan, with only four records on E-bird. There is a huge array of pittas in Borneo, all of them five times more stunning and magnificent than the Fairy Pitta of Taiwan. Julianna said this is the most common pitta in Malaysia, and knew the perfect place to see it. It was in a windbreak forest, at the place where we saw the Black-and-red Broadbill. Because pittas are very skulky birds, we had to play bird calls so it would come out. Sure enough after a couple tries, it started to respond, the sound slowly getting closer, until it sounded like it was right outside of the car. I poked my head out of the car, and as I picked up my binoculars, a dazzling pitta jumped on a branch. I was simply speachless. Never had I seen a gem so beautiful and perfect. I got a couple of fantastic looks of it, my best pitta observation. I was so pleased with myself I skipped the whole time we were there, nearly bursting with happiness.
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