The Bornean Black Magpie is a Treepie in the family Corvidae.
The Bornean (Platysmurus aterrimus) is split from our peninsula Malaysia cousin and can be differentiated by having a patchy crest like (parrotlike) and no white barring to its wings. Size wise It is slightly larger at about 43 cm or 1.5ft. Vocal wise they are quite different so if you manage to have its call, chances it will response to it. It is almost a sure see in RDC Sepilok especially at the Pitta Trail. In fact, it is a common bird to see. My MO to get it to come to you is by playing the- call of the other bird which often feed together with it.
The magpie is a garrulous (always calling) and sociable bird feeding amongst others, often seen in family parties. But my encounter was only a single bird at RDC that 2 days. It has a variety of whistling and chattering calls and is also a vocal mimic. It flies with shallow wing beats that produce a distinctive low throbbing whoo or boobooboo sound.
The magpie is an insectivore and frugivore. It can take to the air catch insects or finding crawlies on foliage and also opportunistically taking small mammals and reptiles.
The magpie is found in the lowlands of Borneo, ranging in altitude up to about 300 m above sea level. It inhabits primary forest, including dipterocarp, kerangas and peat swamp forest, and is also found in secondary forest, overgrown tree plantations and scrub. (Wiki)
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As a comparison Racquet-tailed Drongo |
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