Michael Herr (and other people before him) once stated that “War is long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.” When replacing “terror” with “excitement”, this sounds a lot like birding in tropical rainforests to me.
You have probably experienced it yourself: You prepare yourself well for a birding trip, looking at trip reports, eBird lists, bird guides, etc. Then you arrive in a place such as Taman Negara, Malaysia, eager to start birding and possibly getting nice photos of all the beautiful birds you wish to see. And then, not much happens. Birds (like children) should be seen not heard, but rainforest birds clearly have not understood this message. You only see one bird every two hours or so, while the same period of time is enough for 4 or 5 leeches to find your ankle. And you wonder: Aren`t there any more sensible ways to spend your leisure time than searching for but not seeing birds?
Fortunately, much as the soldier probably mostly remembers a war for its brief moments of sheer terror, birders are blessed with similar retrograde amnesia which leaves out the boredom and physical discomfort and focuses on the perhaps 5 minutes during a three- or four-day birding trip that were actually spent seeing beautiful birds. This is the way otherwise sane people start planning for their next rainforest birdwatching trip soon after their last one.
And seeing the photos I got at Taman Negara during a three-day stay in November 2019, this always seems to work – despite not having seen a single Pitta …
Asian Fairy Bluebird
Black-Naped Monarch
Black-and-red Broadbill
Buff-necked Woodpecker
Collared Scops Owl
Crested Flameback
Greater Racquet-tailed Drongo
Grey-cheeked Bulbul
Pale Blue Flycatcher
Raffle`s Malkoha
Rhinoceros Hornbill
Rufous-collared Kingfisher
Scaly-crowned Babbler
Rufous-winged Philentoma
Rufous Woodpecker
Scarlet-rumped Trogon
Stork-billed Kingfisher
Tiger Shrike
White-rumped Shama
Dear Kai,
Nice photos! But I think what you are calling a Rufous-tailed Tailorbird is a Scaly-crowned Babbler
Taman Negara is one of the hardest places I’ve ever birdied, but it does have standout birds and the accomodation is lovely. A guide can be a real help here, and I’m glad I got one.
Fantastic photos and species!
Great pics Kai… rainforest birds are like buses… you wait to see one for ages and then Teo arrive at the same time. Great read ?
Taman Negara was just as difficult when I visited it nearly 25 years ago, but I’ll never forget the thrill of seeing my first great argus pheasant there, an easy bird to hear but very challenging to see. I loved the photographs, which reminded me of some of the birds I saw there. On the same trip we went on to Borneo, where finding birds in the forest was possibly even harder, but we did eventually see a pitta.
Incredible photos! Having birded many times in Taman Negara I have some sense of the skill that went into obtaining these pictures, not to mention the blood that was donated to the leeches.
Could the rufous-tailed tailorbird be a scaly-crowned babbler? Oh, I miss birding SE Asia. Your amazing post brought back tremendous memories of southern Kalimantan just a few years ago. I miss it with a true passion.
Jochen, you are right about the babbler being a babbler, not a tailorbird. I changed this accordingly. Sorry that it took so long!