Long-tailed Sibia
Heterophasia picaoides
Bukit Fraser, Malaysia
From the time I have started doing these blogs I have discussed a number of Old World Babblers, and a number of Laughingthrushes of the family Leiothrichidae. But have not yet gotten around to talking about the Sibias.
The laughingthrushes are also a family of Old World passerine birds diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The entire family used to be included in the Timaliidae.
These laughingthrushes are small to medium-sized birds with strong legs, and many are quite terrestrial. They typically have generalised bills, similar to those of a thrush. Most have predominantly brown plumage, with minimal difference between the sexes, but many more brightly coloured species also exist.
This group is not strongly migratory, and most species have short rounded wings, and a weak flight. They live in lightly wooded or scrubland environments, ranging from swamp to near-desert. They are primarily insectivorous, although many will also take berries, and the larger species will even eat small lizards and other vertebrates.
The family contains 133 species divided into 16 genera.
And each time I have also included some Sibias from Heterophasia as they are a genus of the same family. Seven species are commonly recognised:
Long-tailed sibia, Heterophasia picaoides
Black-headed sibia or Desgodin's sibia, Heterophasia desgodinsi – sometimes in Malacias, formerly considered conspecific with H. melanoleuca
Dark-backed sibia, Heterophasia melanoleuca – sometimes in Malacias
White-eared sibia, Heterophasia auricularis – sometimes in Malacias
Rufous sibia, Heterophasia capistrata – sometimes in Malacias
Grey sibia, Heterophasia gracilis – sometimes in Malacias
Beautiful sibia, Heterophasia pulchella – sometimes in Malacias
I have discussed the first three briefly - Long-tailed Sibia, Black-headed Sibia & the Dark-backed Sibia. Read about them here.
There are also the Barwings, Liocichlas, Cutias and Minlas on which I have done a few separate blogs. The Babblers listed here are not the same as the Babblers I have already written about.
Today is about the Long-tailed Sibia.
Bukit Fraser
Bukit Fraser is probably my favourite destination in Malaysia. Bukit Fraser or Fraser's Hill is a hill resort located on the Titiwangsa Ridge in the Raub District of Pahang, Malaysia. It is about 100 km, about a two hour drive, from the capital Kuala Lumpur and 400 km away from Singapore in the south. Known locally as Bukit Fraser, this quaint holiday retreat is popular for its nature activities and cool weather. It is one of the last hill stations of Malaysia carrying an imprint of its former British colonial masters very similar to some of the well known hill stations (winter capitals) of India.
From a birding perspective Bukit Fraser has also been very kind to me. Each time I have visited I have been blessed with numerous sightings and at very close proximity too. The mountainous terrain with altitude ranges between 320 m (1,050 ft) and 1,460 m (4,790 ft) above sea level is home to diverse species and if one has the patience there are innumerable moments one can document. Around 44% of the terrain area is ranked as steep, while flat areas make up 8% of the overall land area. Fraser's Hill's virgin forest coverage is around 92% of the overall land area, with only 1.5% of the area used for a town. 6.5% of the forest area has been cleared for secondary vegetation. Ten river systems in Malaysia originate in Fraser's Hill, including Sungai Selangor, a major water source for the district of Selangor, & Sungai Teranum, which forms a major river system in eastern Pahang. The geology of the area is granite, which forms sandy, permeable soil and is easily eroded.
In this quaint little town one of my favourite patches for birding is the stretch from the beginning of Bishop’s Trail down into the valley behind the golf course. This stretch of road used to be and I guess still is a prime hotspot for bird lovers. This is where I have seen the Red-headed Trogon, Fire-tufted Barbet, the Near Threatened Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush, the stunning Silver-eared Mesia and many many more.
Fraser’s Hill has its roots in the 1890s, when Scottish prospector Louis James Fraser opened up a tin mining community known as Pamah Lebar. Mining activity there was short lived as the tin ore depleted by 1913. This led many miners and farmers to abandon the area and Fraser reportedly disappeared in 1910, but research in 2019 concluded that he retired from his position and returned to Great Britain in 1910. He died in 1916 while travelling in Austria-Hungary. An attempt in 1917 by Charles James Ferguson-Davie, the then bishop of Singapore, to locate Fraser in the area failed. While he searched for Fraser, Ferguson -Davie recognized the area's potential as a suitable location to set up a hill station and provided his suggestions to the high commissioner and chief secretary of the Federated Malay States. Its cool climate made Pamah Lebar an ideal retreat to escape from the usually hot climate in Malaysia and construction began in October 1919 to convert the mine area into a resort. The site was renamed Fraser's Hill and opened to visitors in 1922 and the erstwhile location of Fraser’s tin mine became the location of its golf course.
Subsequent development occurred in the 1970s in response to increased tourism activity. While this provided room for more visitors, it had an impact on the environment including deforestation and water pollution prompting a halt to further developments in April 2010. More species faced extinction and the water pollution affected the lives of the Orang Asli (first people) and residents in nearby villages. These issues led to the Pahang state government ruling out further development in the virgin forest at Fraser's Hill on 13 April 2010.
Fraser's Hill is known for its vast biodiversity which attracts scientists and researchers. In recent years, it has seen an increase in tourist activities including hiking, cycling, golfing, archery, riding, tennis, swimming & squash. With its tiny population of 1,000, as recorded in 2013, it is one of Malaysia’s most unexpectedly satisfying short-stay destinations. Navigating up the tight twists and turns of the road to this hill station is a stimulating experience – in fact the uphill road is so narrow that the final eight kilometre stretch is limited to one-way traffic at any time. The direction changes every hour; odd hours are for ascending the hill, while even hours have been denoted for descending traffic. With a majority of its buildings featuring mock Tudor-style architecture, Fraser’s Hill hasn’t changed much from its days as a British colonial hill resort. Besides the essential photo stop opportunity at Fraser’s Clocktower, a hard-to-miss clock tower which stands in the old English village square, you can head on down to Allen’s Water, a former reservoir turned into a boating and fishing attraction.
Read about some of the birds I have photographed at Bukit Fraser.
Akin to a tiny Scottish hamlet, Fraser’s Hill is one of Malaysia’s premier locations for bird-watching. Avid bird watchers can take advantage of the fact that Fraser’s is home to over 250 species of birds – the Fraser’s Hill Development Corporation and the World Wildlife Fund both run classes and excursions to see the flora and wildlife of the hill station. What's more, the Fraser’s Hill International Bird Race – a contest to document the vast variety of birdlife on the mountainside – is typically held here in June. There are eight nature walk trails available ranging from easy to hard. For example the Maxwell Trail – a short and easy hike or the six-kilometre Pine Tree Trail – a longer trail that takes one past some dramatic views and ends near the 18 foot Jeriau Waterfall located about five kilometres from the town centre. Fraser’s also plays host to the Royal Fraser’s Hill Golf Course – a nine-hole green that is one of Malaysia’s oldest. There’s also a paddock at the eastern edge of the course where one can saddle up for a horse riding session.
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Long-tailed Sibia
The Long-tailed Sibia (Heterophasia picaoides) is a species of Leiothrichidae from Southeast Asia. The species was once placed in the large family Timaliidae, but that family is sometimes split with this species being placed with the Laughingthrushes in the family Leiothrichidae. The species is sometimes treated as the only species in the genus Heterophasia, with the other species being placed in the genus Malacias.
The Long-tailed Sibia is about 28–34·5 cm long and weighs approximately 40–46 grams. It is similar to the Grey babbler but with very long, whitish-tipped tail, white wing patch, and a rather long, narrow and slightly decurved bill. The nominate race has the crown and upperparts a darkish grey, upper wing is brownish-slate with white outer fringes of secondaries (forming an oblong white patch). The tail is brownish-slate with broad greyish-white tips; the side of the head, side of the neck and chin to the breast is mid-grey. There is shading a little paler on the lower underparts. The iris is red to chocolate-brown, sometimes a pale brown and the bill is black. The legs are dusky grey to purplish-grey. The sexes are similar. The juveniles have grey irises, paler legs and feet. The race cana is slightly smaller than the nominate and slightly purer and more uniform grey below. The race wrayi is noticeably browner overall, with a smaller white wing patch while the race simillima is like last but paler on the belly and the wing patch is still smaller.
Four subspecies currently recognized.
Heterophasia picaoides picaoides: Distributed across Sikkim, N West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh (NE India), Bhutan, N Myanmar and S China (W Yunnan). No records in Nepal since late 19th century, and no convincing records from Nagaland (India) and Bangladesh.
Heterophasia picaoides cana: Distributed across E and SE Myanmar (including N Tenasserim), NW and W Thailand, Laos, Vietnam (Tonkin and C Annam) and SE China (SE Yunnan E to W Guangxi).
Heterophasia picaoides wrayi: Distributed across Peninsular Malaysia.
Heterophasia picaoides simillima: Distributed across Sumatra.
The Long-tailed Sibia favours broadleaf evergreen forest, forest edge, secondary growth, oak and pine forest, open scrub with large trees or clearings in forest. In Central Laos it is common in dry evergreen and Fokienia-dominated forest. Found at 100–3000 m, reaching highest elevations in Sumatra; apparently mainly above 500 m, and to maximum of 1525 m in the Indian Subcontinent, 1800 m in Thailand and Laos; in Bhutan reportedly at 400–1600 m when breeding, and thought mostly to withdraw below 1000 m in winter, but further evidence is required.
The Long-tailed Sibia prefers insects, flower buds, fruits, berries and seeds. They regularly take the nectar of the silk-cotton trees Bombax ceiba and Salmalia (Bombax) malabarica, coral trees (Erythrina), cherries (Prunus) and other flowers, as well as fig (Ficus) fruits. In one area they were seen to feed on scraps thrown to chickens. The Long-tailed Sibia usually occurs in pairs or in small parties of 4–15 individuals even in breeding season (at least, until mid-May), and sometimes in larger parties of up to 30–40, often in association with other species in bird waves. They forage mostly in the canopy of larger trees, often where foliage is quite thin, and also down to lower branches of trees and taller understorey vegetation.
They breed between February and August. They are usually solitary, but pairs may nest in adjacent trees. The nest is built by both sexes and described as a very deep cup or bag, made mostly of moss with some dead leaves, lined with rootlets and rhizomorphs, placed 6–9 m above ground high up on a horizontal branch or suspended from thin twigs of tree (including conifer). The clutch size is undocumented, the eggs a pale grey-green marked with small reddish-brown blotches.
From a conservation status standpoint they are classified as Least Concern as they are not globally threatened. Recently (Apr 2006) observed in the Royal Chitwan National Park, in Nepal, first confirmed record in the country since the 19th century. They are common throughout the foothills and C & E valleys in Bhutan, but their presence is limited to large areas of continuous forest, notably in Deothang area (Samdrup Jongkha district) and W slope of Mangde Chhu valley, near Zhemgang (in Royal Manas and Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Parks). They are locally fairly common in India, where present in the Buxa Tiger Reserve (West Bengal) and in Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary & Namdapha and Mouling National Parks (all Arunachal Pradesh). They are common in China, where present in Dawangling Nature Reserve (Guangxi), with eight individuals seen in one day. Generally locally common in SE Asian range. Common in Nakai-Nam Theun National Biodiversity Conservation Area, in Laos. Present in Na Hang Nature Reserve and in Vu Quang Nature Reserve, in Vietnam. Common at Bukit Fraser, in Peninsular Malaysia. Present in Gunung Leuser National Park, in Sumatra.
The following gallery is of the Pygmy Cupwing or Pygmy Wren-babbler observed & photographed down the road from the start of Bishops Trail in Bukit Fraser. The photos are from various trips I have made to this quaint little village town.
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