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.

MAGPIE 4/4 - Bornean Black Magpie (Borneo endemic / Lifer 574)

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)

As a comparison Racquet-tailed Drongo 

TREEPIE - Bornean Treepie (Borneo Endemic Lifer 486)

This is my first Treepie  that I have encounter. The other one to see is the Racquet-tailed Treepie in Perlis Chuping side near to Thai Border. It is often seen in small flock accompanying other birds like the Bornean Green Magpie 

It is fairly common in most mountain ranges in the northern and central parts of Borneo. It mainly occurs between 300 and 2,800 metres above sea-level, being most common in valleys and foothills at the lower end of that range. It inhabits forest, forest edge, bambo thickets and scrubland and is sometimes seen in cultivated areas. It forages in the tree canopy, alone or in small groups, searching for small fruit, seeds and large insects such as beetles and cockroaches. It can become tame, visiting villages to feed on scraps.

Little is known about its breeding habits. The nest is shallow, built of fine twigs and placed in a low tree. The eggs are greenish-white with brown markings concentrated in a ring at the wider end.

Adult has blackish-brown forehead, lores and cheek, crown to nape and rest of upperparts silvery grey, wings black with white wing patch at base of primaries. Long uppertail feathers grey with broad black terminal band. Neck and rest of underparts fawn brown. Black under-tail feathers are of progressive length and are much shorter than uppertail feathers. Iris reddish brown; bill, legs and feet black.

The Bornean treepie is a noisy bird with a variety of loud, explosive calls including a bell-like whistle and various grunting and chattering calls. It is able to mimic the calls of other birds.