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MikeBirder - Malaysian Birds

Hi

Welcome to my Malaysian Birding Blog. I migrated to blogspot.com as my blog at multiply.com closed shop in 2012. I wish to showcase all Malaysian birds that I have photographed whether here or overseas. My countdown of lifers started in 2005. Coming to Oct 2024 my countdown of lifers photograph has reached
577/688 species of birds of Malaysia in photos.

My shooting gear was a EF400mm f4 DO lens and Canon 7D body which to me is the ideal setup for mobility and bird chasing at that time. Eventhen the weight over my shoulder is more that 5.5 kg. As of June 2016 I have also acquired a Fuji XF 100-400mm OIS lens to complement my travelling cum birding trip overseas. My Fuji X-T2 went kaput recently and I upgraded to the X-T5 in 2023 ; the weight over my shoulder is much lighter now by 30%. In December 2018 I acquired the Nikon Coolpix P1000 as supplementary camera for distance shooting of 3000mm.
Fuji have finally made available their new XF 200-600mm lens which I yet to decide to spend another RM10,000. As for Fuji body I will stop with X-T5 36megapixel ..........

I am a weekend birder. Do feel free to drop me a line at mikebirding@gmail.com and I see whether you can tag along in my outings. My usual day trip is just an hour ride away to Hulu Langat, Lancang, Kemensah, Krau, Awana, Hulu Kali, Gombak Ole Road, Fraser's Hill , Bukit Tinggi and KSNP & Coastal Sg Janggut Jeram side of the coast . Overnite trip to Merapoh & Amp; Cameron, Air Hitam and further north to Kuala Sidim is a seldom affair but for lifer we travel. Panti in Johor is another good birding site that I yet to go. Then there are the Borneo birds of Sabah and Sarawak of Malaysia which I seriously much go to chalk up more lifers. This I did in 2018 to Sepilok Sandakan and Kinabalu Park. Next Danum and LahatDatu . In 2024 I visited a new happening birding spot inTalang Seremban.......

WARNING Birding is an addiction once you started its hard to stop. The wifey and children are now birding widow and orphan.

ALL PHOTOS IN THIS BLOG ARE COPYRIGHT OF MIKEBIRDER. KINDLY SEEK PERMISSION FROM THE OWNER IF YOU want to use them for commercial purposes.

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Wednesday, 20 February 2013

DRONGO 2/9 - Black Drongo

Black Drongo

The Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus is a medium sized passerine of temperate and tropical Asia. They are aggressive and fearless slender birds, 28 cm in length, and will attack much larger species if their nest or young are threatened. This behaviour led to the former name of King Crow. They fly with strong flaps of the wing and are capable of fast manoeuvres to capture insect prey. The Black Drongo has short legs and sits very upright on perches or electricity wires like swallows. They may also perch on grazing animals. Sighted in a threesome on a tree fringing the padi field in Alor Setar.

These drongos feed predominantly on insects such as grasshoppers, cicadas, wasps, bees and dragonflies. They often associate with Common Mynas, Cattle Egrets and other birds that share a similar diet. Drongos benefit from the association with more successful foraging. There is only partial overlap in the insect prey sought by mynas and drongos. There are however cases of Drongos preying on small birds. They have also been on occasion seen feeding on dead fish. Flowers of trees such as Erythrina and Bombax may be visited for water and nectar and they are sometimes known to feed on grains.They are only rarely known to take larger arthropods such as scorpions and centipedes.

They often feed on insects late in the evening under electric lights and often forage at night as well as anting.

As they are winter visitors they do not breed here. It breeds in south-east Iran, Afghanistan, India, south-east Tibet, and from northern China discontinuously south through south-west Thailand, to Bali and Java. Northern populations migrate, wintering at lower altitudes and latitudes, reaching as far south as central India in the west, and Malaysia and Sumatra in the east, where they occur in tropical savanna, grassland and agricultural areas (Jeyarajasingham and Pearson 1999). The nesting of the Black Drongo is mainly from April to August. The usual clutch is four eggs laid in a cup nest placed in the fork of a outer branch of tree. Their habit of driving away predators from near their nests is believed to encourage other small birds to nest in the vicinity.Cases of brood parasitism by the Asian Koel have been noted. An intriguing case of a Red-vented Bulbul feeding Black Drongo chicks at their nest has been noted



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