Avian Sighting Jan 23 - Tiger Shrike

 

An adult male in full colors and black eye band

SHRIKE 1/3 - Tiger Shrike

 Tiger Shrike

Shrike  are migrant birds which drop by to Malaysia  in the months  September till April. It can be seen everywhere in the urban gardens coastal fields and  fringes of hill & lowland forest.

Preys on Insects and ground grub. Unlike the Brown Shrike which set up territorial rights by giving harsh chattering call for the weeks of arrival the former is some what quiet.

This is my latest shot at Taman Negara October 2019 at a close distance of only 25ft. in condusive lighting and background. I would say in perfect chance. This a Juvenile/ First winter without its black mask and black-tipped pinkish mandible It is still fully brown from head to tail. They are one of the first visitors in the coming wintering season up north. Beside Shrikes; the Siberian Blue Robin can seen at  most our the favorite ports.

SHRIKE 3/3 - Long-tailed Shrike

Long-tailed Shrike

This is the one of the three Shrike species you can see in Malaysia. It is recorded as a resident in  my beloved country ...... actually very rare to see it  my side of the KL/Selangor usually in northern state of the  Peninsula. It do breed in Malay Peninsula. Easier to see in Thailand. In my case I saw it in Jogyakarta as a caged bird. A beautiful shrike with its long tail probably the Longicaudatus.
It is about 27- 28cm in length. China has the largest population race amongst the nine subspecies . Sexes similar or nearly so. Head and mantle are dark gray, back and rump are rufous; tail is long, black, and graduated; wings are dark with conspicuous white primary patches. Underparts are whitish, strongly tinged with rufous on the sides of breast and flanks. Erythronotus, widespread in central Asia and in the Indian subcontinent, is similar, but distinctly smaller, somewhat duller, and with a narrower black band on the forehead. Caniceps from southern India and Sri Lanka is paler, with less rufous on its upperparts. Race tricolor is a superb Himalayan bird; it bears a black cap, shows a small grayish area on upper mantle, and has mainly deep rufous upperparts. It is rather similar to the three insular races. Race longicaudatus from Thailand has a very long tail. Remarkably, in certain areas, nominate has a melanistic form called fuscatus; mixed pairs have been recorded. Peninsula is called the l.s. Bentet........

A scrub jungle bird, but also associated with lightly wooded country, cultivated areas, and gardens. Generally a bird of lowlands, but in the Himalayas, tricolor populations have been found up to 9,800 ft (3,000 m) and occasionally up to 14,000 ft (4,300 m). Nominate breeds up to 9,800 ft (3,000 m) in China.


My new sighting in MalimNawar Feb 2017 is my first shot of this specie in the wild 

SHRIKE 2/3 - Brown Shrike

Brown Shrike

This is the most common Shrike you can see in Peninsula Malaysia during the months of Sept-April as they are adapted to the urban environment.  They are earliest arrival of the migrant birds during the wintering season up north.

Sound like a white breasted kingfisher but the "kekkekek" call is uniform and loud. Its their territorial call usually upon arrival in a new area. At times they are in perch in a group but most frequent they are loner. They are seasonal at my area in Mindef KL. It has a distinct black mask and rufous brown crown.