Upcoming trip to Asia should result in some new bird sightings
Gone Birding Bargain Hunter February 7, 2011Columnist Bruce Glick summarizes happenings in the birding world. Emphasis is on the local Wayne/Holmes area, but this week he shares some information about an up-coming trip to Asia. Find out more in the "Gone Birding" column.
Upcoming trip to Asia should result in some new bird sightings
Despite the fact that this column is focused on local birding, this week I'm going to make an exception. My wife Helen and I are leaving on February 7 for a three week trip to Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The purpose of the trip is two-thirds work and one-third vacation. First comes a week in Malaysia, a country we have not visited before. We'll see as much as possible, starting in the capital of Kuala Lumpur and then traveling to at least one "hill station" and one or two coastal sites.
I've been studying a compact bird book called Birds of Peninsular Malaysia, by Davison and Fook. Many of the birds are similar or the same as the ones we encountered during the year we lived in southern Philippines. Along the coasts and marshes are many herons and egrets, some of them the same as we see here in Ohio (Great Egret for example). Add to that two large relatives, the Grey Heron and the Purple Heron, plus some bitterns and storks. Shorebirds are also a mixture of the familiar and the new. Surprisingly there are few if any gulls and only a few terns.
Pheasants are an Asian specialty and there are a number of them in Malaysia, including the Malay Peacock-pheasant, found only on this peninsula. Doves and pigeons are another well-represented family. There are at least 20 different species and we probably will see a fourth of them. Some are quite large and beautiful, such as the Pied Imperial Pigeon, a species that we saw once on a small island in the Philippines. They are white with black wings and tail.
There are many different cuckoos, including one called the Koel, which has spread rapidly across the peninsula in only 10 years. Big and long-tailed, the birds can be located by their loud characteristic "koel" calls. They are nest parasites of crows and mynas. Another member of the cuckoo family is the Greater Coucal, large, common birds which can be hard to see, even when giving their loud calls which go down and then up the scale.
Barn Owls are found in Malaysia, where it is said that they have increased because of the abundant rats found in oil-palm estates. There are also several trogons, kingfishers and swifts, but then come some new families such as bee-eaters, barbets and hornbills.
That's just a taste of birds we might encounter in Malaysia. You can find more information in the library or on the internet. Peninsular Malaysia has over 600 species of birds in a relatively small amount of land. That's typical of the tropics.
Good birding!
Bruce Glick
birderbruce@yahoo.com
330-317-7798