Common Hill-Myna

23rd February 2014, Taman Melawati, Selangor

Scientific Name: Gracula religiosa Equipment: Nikon 1 V2 + Nikkor AFS-VR 400mm f/2.8G + TC2.0IIIE

Forestry Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) , Kepong 23rd May 2009

Regular birders t0 FRIM have been telling me how it is a place full of surprises. We (myself and two elder brothers) went there to see if it’s true. With a constant flow of joggers and a loudspeaker blaring loud music at a nearby Family Day function we were not expecting this to be a good trip. Things began to pick up when we saw a pair of hanging parrot (my first snap of the day which didn’t turn out well). There was a tree in front of the Malay Tea House which was fruiting ( the only one), and it was a magnet for birds as we saw wave after wave of different types of birds flying in. We stationed ourselves beside the tree until it was time to pack up.

We were welcomed by a Black Giant Squirrel

A female Thick-Billed Green-Pigeon (Treron pharei)

We missed the male pigeon while concentrating on the female.
A Brown Barbet (Calorhamphus fuliginosus) joining the feast of delicious fruits
A few noisy Common Hill-Mynas (Gracula religiosa) (local name: Tiong Mas) flew onto a nearby tree.
Asian Fairy Bluebird (Irena puella) on the same fruiting tree.	Gold-Whiskered Barbet (Megalaima chrysopogon)

The call of the Shama was too tempting; I had to go and check out the bird. A male White-Rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus). He surveys the area from a higher perch before swooping down to catch his prey on the forest floor.

 

The female has slightly duller colours and shorter tail than the male.

Beautiful tail feathers of the male.

FRIM, yes there will be other trips there.