John Whitehead (1860-1899) was a British explorer who yearly beginning in 1885 tried to climb Mount Kinabalu and eventually succeeded in 1888, the primary particular person to take action. When not climbing, he collected species, and thus numerous birds are named after him.

Three of them will be discovered on Mount Kinabalu, and native fowl guides converse admiringly of colleagues who’ve seen all three of them on sooner or later (we solely managed two).

Whitehead’s Broadbill is a fowl I might by no means have been capable of finding with no information because it cleverly employs a inexperienced plumage to grow to be nearly invisible in a inexperienced darkish forest (I believe it’s considerably stunning that no more birds are inexperienced, as when it comes to camouflage, this actually works fairly nicely).

A examine on the breeding biology of Whitehead’s Broadbill was simply printed in Could 2023 however leaves a little bit of a puzzle because the breeding success is described as comparatively excessive, that means there ought to be different causes for the inhabitants decline of the species.

For Whitehead’s Spiderhunter, the Latin species identify juliae can also be linked to Mr. Whitehead himself – his sponsor on his explorations was the British collector Arthur Hay ninth Marquis of Tweeddale (if Tweeddale feels like I made it up, I swear I didn’t), and this collector’s second spouse was Julia Charlotte Sophia Stewart Mackenzie Marchioness of Tweeddale (at the moment, folks hardly ever needed to fill out varieties asking for his or her full identify, which explains why there was no aversion to prolonged names).

So, like a soccer stadium named after an insurance coverage firm, the broadbill ended up bearing a reputation celebrating a sponsor.

Curiously, the primary description of a nest of Whitehead’s Spiderhunter was solely printed in 2015.

The possible cause for this late discovery (in addition to for the final issue of seeing this spiderhunter despite the fact that it’s in all probability not even that uncommon) is that the fowl often spends most of its time very excessive up within the crowns of timber – the nest was at a peak of 19 meters.

Just like the broadbill, Whitehead’s Spiderhunter is a Borneo endemic.

In accordance with eBird, the Black-and-crimson Oriole is a “strange-looking, darkish oriole”.

On a barely extra scientific degree, a paper explains the plumage shade of the oriole with the presence of keto-carotenoids together with canthaxanthin, adonirubin, astaxanthin, papilioerythrinone, and doradexanthin. In fact, solely chemists have a tough thought what which may imply.

I used to be nearly to touch upon the shortage of a black cap within the Black-capped White-eye once I learn the eBird description of the species: “Be aware this species’s broad white eyering, in addition to its smoky-black brow and lores (regardless of identify, doesn’t have a lot of a black cap).”

Mediocre minds assume alike.

When seeing a Black-sided Flowerpecker, after all, the primary thought everybody has is “What a tremendous black facet!”

Except, after all, you see a feminine.

Whereas the Bornean Forktail appears fairly much like the White-crowned Forktail, it apparently is a separate species, making it one other Borneo endemic.

The Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrush is a Borneo endemic as nicely and is described as being quite common (not that I can inform from simply staying at Mount Kinabalu for about sooner or later).

In actual fact, a 2023 paper within the presumably very talked-about journal “The Malaysian Forester” lists this species as essentially the most generally encountered within the area examined.

Whereas it’s laudable to publish a paper concerning the menace to laughingthrushes (together with this) by the fowl commerce, I nonetheless really feel that lame-joke titles equivalent to “Nothing to giggle about – the continuing unlawful commerce in laughingthrushes (Garrulax species) within the fowl markets of Java, Indonesia” ought to be averted. Go away the dangerous jokes to me, please.

Anyway, such fowl seize is the primary cause for the categorization of the Sunda Laughingthrush as Close to Threatened. That is notably acute in Indonesia (supply).

This laughingthrush appears to have a distinct style in shade, choosing a pale blue eyering fairly than the orange-yellow one of many earlier one.

The Borneo-endemic Chestnut-crested Yuhina is a cooperative breeder – the overwhelming majority of breeding pairs (97%) in a examine performed right here at Mount Kinabalu had helpers.

Curiously, solely about half of the helpers are associated to the breeding pair …

… and solely those not associated to the pair gained some parentage, both by sneaking in some intercourse with the breeding feminine or by including an egg. I assume it could not be okay to do that to your personal kinfolk, however with strangers, it’s in all probability okay.

It is a very dangerous picture of a Fruithunter. I’m solely together with it as a result of our information was form of enthusiastic about it, stating that it’s exhausting to search out because it doesn’t vocalize. Nonetheless, a foul picture. Will need to have been a digital camera fault.

eBird offers the Indigo Flycatcher a really optimistic evaluate, calling it a “stunning little gem of a flycatcher”.

Apparently, Indigo Flycatchers primarily hunt in teams, as described right here.

Considerably superfluously, the paper begins with the fairly pompous assertion “In animal habits, searching is likely one of the essential actions that may maintain inhabitants sustainability” – is it actually vital to elucidate that birds must eat?

The Little Cuckoo-Dove certainly appears like a cross between a pigeon and a cuckoo, although it’s the former, proudly (and in my view, mistakenly) elevating its personal chicks regardless of the prices and annoyances of doing so.

The Latin species identify of the Penan Bulbul is ruficrissus. The HBW explains that rufus means “purple” whereas crissum means “vent”, after which for no obvious cause (apart from that intercourse sells, possibly?) provides that crissare means “to copulate”.

It appears the species is form of the mountain or SUV model of the Ochraceous Bulbul.

Whereas the nominate species of the Mountain Leaf Warbler has a really good vivid yellow shade, birdwatchers at Mount Kinabalu must make do with a much less engaging subspecies, kinabaluensis.

Or to say it in a barely much less judgemental approach, as eBird does: “In most areas, birds are yellowish inexperienced above and brighter yellow under; birds on Mount Kinabalu are gray-green above and off-white under.”

Little analysis appears to have been completed on most of the birds of Mount Kinabalu. This consists of the Sunda Cuckooshrike – the one bit of knowledge I can present is that the Latin species identify larvata means masked.

Be aware the blackish space across the eyes – apparently, the dimensions of the masks can also be an indicator of the intercourse, with the male having a much bigger masks, however to me, the fowl in my picture appears to fall proper between the 2 illustrations supplied within the HBW.

So fairly than proclaiming a impartial intercourse and being accused of wokeism, I favor to not make an announcement concerning the intercourse of the fowl within the picture.

In accordance with Wikipedia, there are 20 fowl species named after Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778-1858), a Dutch zoologist, although this consists of each Latin and English names in addition to a number of subspecies. Approach too many, should you ask me … Anyway, this checklist consists of Temminck’s Sunbird.

Whereas it’s described as a medium-sized sunbird by eBird, one has to remember that sunbirds typically are fairly small and light-weight – the typical weight of this species is about 5 grams.

Apparently, in case of utmost drought, these birds (and several other different Malaysian species described in an article) cease breeding as a survival tactic.

That may assist these species take care of local weather change.

My ID for the feminine is mainly simply primarily based on the truth that it visited the identical tree because the male, so it’d nicely be flawed – eBird admits that the “feminine Temminck’s could be very plain and troublesome to differentiate from different sunbirds”.