Critter News

DECEMBER 29, 2008

A breeding program in Malaysia will attempt to breed a rescued Borneo Sumatran rhino in order to save the endangered species. Experts cannot confirm how many Borneo Sumatran rhinos remain in the wild, but estimates range from 10 to 30 individuals, many of them isolated from others in their species.

Rhinos 100

Rhinos Malaysia Species Wildlife Reserve 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

Not bad given that the 5 families in the inner circle of the laughingthrush family have a combined number of about 68 species. The Hainan version is sometimes considered a separate species, in which case it is classified as Near Threatened. 36, if my counting is right and there has been no very recent split or lump.

San Diego 245

San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 245

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Myers, a professional birding guide in “real life,” summarizes the etymology and history of all common bird names (of bird families and groups, not all 10,000-plus species). The guide covers 265 of Maine’s 461 bird species: common nesting species, common migrants, and wintering birds.

Sri Lanka 258

Sri Lanka Malaysia Suriname Malawi 258

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2014

It’s perhaps an easy one for many people to overlook, since they don’t occur in Europe or the Americas, but visit a patch of forerst or bush in Asia or Africa and there should be one or two species around. It can reach quite ludicrous levels in some places, like in Danum Valley where you can see ten different species of a morning.

Malaysia 218

Malaysia Squirrels Asia Africa 218

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

Miami, Florida has a reputation among the birding community for being overrun with exotic bird species. However, the typical birding experience for someone down here also includes a large menagerie of other species such as Orange-winged Parrot , Mitred Parakeet , Egyptian Goose and Nutmeg Mannikin. It is well-deserved.

Miami 228

Miami Asia Florida Malaysia 228

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2021

Just last year, 5 new bird species and 5 new subspecies were discovered in a few short weeks of fieldwork on the islands of Taliabu, Peleng and Batudaka. In recent years Indonesia has been competing with the Andes as the region giving rise to the biggest number of undescribed bird species (naturally, all of them endemics).

Indonesia 264

Indonesia Timor Brunei Guinea 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. I used to live in Botswana, where there are about 450 bird species in an area a few dozen miles from the capital; then somewhat naively moved back to Serbia with mere 250 species around the capital.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 12, 2019

Fraser`s Hill in peninsular Malaysia is another one of these almost legendary birding locations in Southeast Asia. Wikipedia grudgingly admits that the species “has dramatic coloration unlike any other member of its genus”. To be called Lesser Racquet-tailed Drongo – what does this do to the morale of a species? Blue Nuthatch.

Malaysia 238

Malaysia Birds Asia Morals 238

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2024

We moved to Malaysia, I watched birds and gained 10 kilos eating that gorgeous food. That includes birds that do no longer count as a species or ever even existed ( Cinnamon Reed Warbler ), birds that are not in the South African region ( Audubon’s Shearwater ) and misses birds that are ( Angola Cave-chat ).

South Africa 240

South Africa 2002 Angola Africa 240

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2019

This guide describes the 125 best birding sites for both common and rare species, covering Myanmar, Thailand, Laos (officially Lao PDR), Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines and Timor Leste. The 125 Best Bird Watching Sites in Southeast Asia, edited by Yong Ding Li & Low Bing Wen.

Asia 235

Asia Laos Myanmar Indonesia 235

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2019

Reachable by direct flights from Portugal, the island country of Sao Tome and Principe lying in the Gulf of Guinea, in the armpit of Africa, has about 140 bird species and 28 endemics – more endemics per square mile than anywhere else on Earth. The main island of Sao Tome has about 100 species and 17 endemics among them.

Costa Rica 203

Costa Rica Sri Lanka Rwanda Papua New Guinea 203

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

According to the HBW, there are 41 species of African Barbets and 34 species of Asian Barbets. There are also 14 species of New World Barbets and 2 species of Toucan-Barbets (all in South America). The red tufts of the Fire-tufted Barbet (Fraser’s Hill, Malaysia) look like they are poisonous to touch.

South Africa 245

South Africa Africa India China 245

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2014

Add 315 bird species, 42 species of mammals – including Vulnerable Irrawaddy and Endangered Ganges River Dolphins , 61 amphibians and reptiles – including Estuarine Crocodile , at least 150 species of commercially important fish and 334 plant species to the picture. And tell me now – don’t you share my dream?

Bangladesh 202

Bangladesh Dolphins Cambodia Cooking 202

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2014

The first broadbills I ever saw, a small flock of Long-tailed Broadbills in Peninsular Malaysia, were jaw dropping to me. This isn’t even the prettiest species they have! I simply never imagined from the plates or photos that a bird could be that beautiful. As you can see from this shot the bill really is broad!

Madagascar 167

Madagascar Malaysia New Zealand South America 167

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2017

Our beats were out waving their binoculars around, contributing to the 50,000 checklists submitted and boosting the total which exceeded 6,500 species. It may be possible to find out how many species the beats found on the big day but, quite frankly, life is too short. shared xxx checklists producing xxx species.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Malaysia 2017 Japan 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2022

The book covers all of China, which given the large number of species (1484 are covered in the guide), the relatively low level of bird knowledge and also the limited market for such a book in English language (MacKinnon claims in one interview that the Chinese edition sold ten times more than the English one) is quite an achievement.

China 240

China Brazil 2000 Birds 240

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2016

That’s alright because given the wealth of bird species all over, you can begin with the binos wherever you want and always see a lot. I’m not even sure how many have been identified around Carara but it’s probably have a grand bird species or so. This one is one of the more common species, a juvenile Gray Hawk.

Costa Rica 173

Costa Rica Malaysia Birds Protection 173

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 31, 2012

The first of these was in the fine capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Whether or not species are lifers or not in Asia for me is actually something of a guess, as my note-taking when I visited the region 10 years earlier could charitably be described as sloppy, and while I have some lists I lost a lot of sighting.

New Zealand 162

New Zealand Fur Malaysia Asia 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2014

The 28 odd species of this genus are found in the Sunda (the islands of Indonesia, Malaysia and the southern bit of Thailand) and the Philippines, and are named for the inescapable (in this region anyway) Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, he of the founding of Singapore fame. Sometimes it is good to stop and smell the roses.

Philippines 166

Philippines Malaysia Indonesia Thailand 166

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2012

I’m headed to Singapore in a week with stops in Japan and I hope Malaysia. Studying field guides, reading trip reports, and arranging meetings with local birders can be a process that takes more time than the trip itself, but makes the anticipation that much more delicious. His Best Bird of the Weekend?

Malaysia 125

Malaysia Singapore 2012 New York 125

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago covers 1,417 species, 601 endemics, 98 vagrants, 8 introduced and 18 undescribed species. So–the book covers islands that belong to the Republic of Indonesia and to Malaysia. But, it doesn’t cover all or Indonesia or all of Malaysia. Species Accounts.

Indonesia 153

Indonesia Brunei Malaysia Papua New Guinea 153

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2018

It’s been the image for that species on Wikipedia for almost 8 years. For the entire existence of Wikipedia, one of the world’s largest and most important websites, no one has contributed a better image of this relatively easy to see species (relatively easy if you live in Malaysia anyway). Google-image the species.

Malaysia 163

Malaysia Birds Albatross Wildlife 163

10,000 Birds

MAY 22, 2012

Sure, if you were to kidnap me, blindfold and drug me, push me out of a plane with a parachute over somewhere in, say, Malaysia, I would be able to figure out my exact latitude and longitude within minutes simply by recognizing the subtle local variation in call notes by Crimson Sunbirds and Ashy Minivets. But I digress.

San Diego 169

San Diego Mississippi Mexico Malaysia 169

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

And, to give his dream year a little more oomph, he created a grand once-in-a-lifetime goal: to track down and see every pitta species in the world in one year. Some of his finds are the first documented records of the bird in that area or the first decent photograph of a little-known species. And mosquitos.

Hunters 221

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 221

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Did I dare dip my toe into this catalog of tantalizing species? Borneo is the third largest island in the world; politically it is divided amongst three countries–Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), Indonesia (Kalimantan) and the sultanate of Brunei. With a trip to South Africa on the horizon at the time, I thought I could handle it.

Brunei 190

Brunei Asia Birds China 190

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2023

In total, there are eight species of hornbills in Borneo – the best place to see them seems to be the Kinabatagan River area (also known as Sukau). Another item they feed on is hunting edible bird nest swiftlets, which are quite common in edible swiftlet houses in Sabah, Malaysia ( source ).

Rhinoceros 143

Rhinoceros Singapore Transported Hunting 143

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2017

Species searches on eBird reveal that both species might be found in Tokyo, though White’s is much more common, with a few contemporary sightings. So I resorted to the internet. How I wish now that I had not. It also suggests that my field guides may have been a bit precocious in using “White’s Thrush” so long ago.

Sri Lanka 100

Sri Lanka Japan India 2005 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2019

We had found thirty four bird species so far in Singapore and had to admit defeat due to lack of sleep and returned to the hotel. We had been busying bird watching all over Singapore and had reached 112 bird species and had decided it was time to visit Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. 169 bird species and one day to go!

Singapore 115

Singapore Transported Boars Malaysia 115

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Knowing that there are reserves with long lists of 600 or more species, I set my threshold at more than 600 birds… and found only a few such hotspots. In early November 2020, there were 15 countries with more than 1000 species eBirded so far. Other than that, there are barely a few hotspots with over 500 species.

Asia 278

Asia Malaysia Papua New Guinea Thailand 278

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2018

It divides countries into categories, where the next category has 200 more species. In some cases the data are outdated, e.g. Costa Rica has 900 and not 800 species, but I made no corrections, remaining faithful to the original map data. Shown as a list, it looks like this: Less than 200 bird species: Antarctica; oceanic islands.

Equatorial Guinea 226

Equatorial Guinea Costa Rica Central African Republic Guyana 226

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2013

A Long-tailed Sylph, one of the America’s many long tailed hummingbird species, photographed in Colombia by Adam Riley. A Great Argus in full call, this species’ tail consists of the longest feather in the bird world. Photograph taken in Malaysia’s Taman Negara National Park by Adam Riley. Sugarbirds.

Papua New Guinea 258

Papua New Guinea South Africa Africa Zimbabwe 258

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2014

And prepare yourself for certain disappointment, because you will not see all the possible species that you read about in the trip reports you read a dozen times before you left (when you should have been working). One of the species that was high on my list, and the one that made me wait the longest for it. Bornean Green Magpie.

Birds 147

Birds Malaysia Woodpeckers Squirrels 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2023

I hope the love life of the authors improved after the publication of the paper … So, one of the 47 species with seasonal variation in abundance was the Oriental Dollarbird, a summer visitor (as fellow blog writer Clare can attest as well). The paper examines the bird species involved in these bird singing contests.

Malaysia 130

Malaysia Indonesia Lifestyle Japan 130

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 27, 2022

When you think of the best birding in the south of Asia, it is Malaysia that comes to mind, although you are likely not to even think of the country as such: you are dreaming of the (Malaysian) province of Sabah, in the north of the island of Borneo. And yet, it easily fits the largest pocket of my reporter’s vest.

Malaysia 262

Malaysia Singapore Asia 2020 262

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2024

Interestingly, the research found that both species primarily spend their time in trees (83% and 81%) and have the same main food source, hymenopterans (25% each, and no, I have no idea what hymenopterans are either – presumably something with wings). So, basically, the two species do exactly the same things.

Vietnam 205

Vietnam Zebras Dissection Birds 205

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2023

These few birds live on the Malaysian peninsula, on Sumatra, and on Borneo (the photos shown here were taken at Sukau, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia). It is also by far the stork species with the lowest number of scientific papers focusing on it. Theodor Hugo Storm (1850-1927), a German mariner who later emigrated to the USA (source: HBW).

San Diego 214

San Diego Zoos Malaysia Eggs 214

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Well – I only saw two species, the most common ones at Sepilok, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia. However, it is cursed with a rather unappealing species name – sordida , or “shabby”, which makes you wonder whether the person giving the species this name had actually ever seen the bird.

Ghana 130

Ghana Malaysia Indonesia Singapore 130