Treepie 2/2 March 2026 - Racket-tailed Treepie (Lifer 590/688)

 

This is my much sought  after lifer whenever I am in the northern state of Perlis. People says it is easy to see but difficult to shoot as they are very skittish and do not stay put. In the first day we tried different locations given by resident birder Husaini. We managed to see it but when we dismount from our car the bird just flew into the dark side of the trees. and never to be seen. On day 2 we went back to the same location in the late morning at about past 10.00am hoping to encounter the pair we saw earlier. This time we were ready with our gear to shoot  as we slowly move along the track towards the previous sighting spot. But alas a big fat zero. 

We went about the kampung road in a circle scanning coconut tree, raintree  without seeing the bird as we return to  the same location. Then I commented that the gate to a restricted area is open which was closed the other day. AT was gungho & decided to drive in as the guard post was not manned. Worse case scenario we be forced out. Almost reaching the end of road  KS shouted Treepie at eye level !!! 

The Shooting Experience

We were very lucky to encounter the same pair  in their feeding mode, The pair stayed for a good 15mins at middle storey to as low as 6 feet feeding on grub and insects. They were not so preturb of our presence even 4 of us chasing it under the trees. Exposure is a challenge For me the Fuji XT5 needs to be dialed to +2 to get some details  of its dark body in  backlighting and shadows condition. Most of my shots were of  silhouette lol. You can see most of my photos are half  darken. 

                                        

If you can shoot from your car or shoot behind your car. You can misidentify  pair of crow-billed drongo for it from afar. Look out for it on coconut tree or bamboo thickets. They are always moving about as they have a wide territory. It best to hunt the bird in the morning when they are feeding. In our case it was about 10am.

The characteristic of the Racket-tailed is its crow like beak with blue eye and  glossy green body which can appear black in the shade. Its tail is as long as its slender body like our Long-tailed Sibia. Length wise is about a footer. It is park under the crow family. They are agile bird  maneuvering along branches using its long arch tip tail to balance.

Habitat & Distribution. They are found in the northern states of Peninsula Malaysia and Perlis has the fair share of sightings. The bird is arboreal and feed on insects, grub and fruits in trees. In Malaysia context it inhabit kampung  or village environment and plantation. In our encounter it feed in bamboo thickets, raintree and fruiting trees.

A cup shaped nest is built in bamboo or shrubs especially thorny ones often surrounded by open grassy areas and normally lays 2–4 eggs.

Thank you KH Low, Alan T & Alan K for the company. Good food and merry comradeship. The Harum Manis we bought was very fragrance and sweet. Upon opening the box I found a packet of Carbide ...apparently to quicken the ripening? The grade C mango was RM30 per kg Damn expensive but what to do cannot get it in KL.