Pnoepyga pusilla

Bukit Fraser, Malaysia

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.

Bukit Fraser

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 and 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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Pygmy Cupwing/ Pygmy Wren-babbler

The Pygmy Cupwing or Pygmy Wren-babbler (Pnoepyga pusilla), is a species of bird in the Pnoepyga wren-babblers family, Pnoepygidae. It is found in southern and eastern Asia from the Himalayas to the Lesser Sunda Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It is essentially a tiny brown tennis ball supported by tiny chopsticks. It is dark brown above with densely packed black-and-white scaling on the underside giving the impression of a tailless rodent as it makes its way furtively through dense shrubbery and leaf litter. From what I heard it is quite vocal and is jarringly loud for its size, giving single well-spaced piercing whistles on different high pitches, and occasionally an accelerating, usually rising rapid series of whistles. Sometimes it also gives a sharp chip.

It is a tiny bird averaging around 7·5–9 cm in length and weighing about 11–15 grams. An almost tailless olive-backed babbler with pale densely packed scaling below usually seen in two morphs. The nominate race is a pale morph (“white-scaled”) is greyish olive-brown from crown to rump with slight dark scaling, the upper wing is browner, with small buffy subterminal spots on the scapulars, wing-coverts and tertials. The sides of the head are greyish olive-brown, ear-coverts with indistinct pale shaft streaks. The chin and throat are off-white with narrow grey-brown scaling, the breast and belly are off-white too, each feather with grey-brown chevron-shaped centre and narrow grey-brown margin (producing a very scaly effect). The flanks are olive-brown with buffy-olive scaling, a dark brown or brown iris, blackish bill which is paler below and legs a pale dull brown. The dark morph (“ochre-bellied”) is olive-brown above with ochre drop on each feather, the white below is replaced by ochre and it differs from the very similar P. albiventer with a smaller size and an unspeckled head. The sexes are similar. The juvenile is plain above except for warm buff tips of greater wing-coverts and tertials, plain also below, a whitish throat and belly shading to dark greyish on the breast and flanks. The race annamensis is slightly darker above than the nominate, with more buff on the sides of the head, and blacker scaling below. The species harterti is like the annamensis, but darker on the sides of the head while the species lepida is more rufescent above, with rusty-buff on the side of the head and the edges of the scaling on breast side and flanks. The species rufa is like the last, but the sides of the head are darker, the scaling on breast side and flanks are less rusty. The species everetti is blackish-brown above, darker than the others, below lacks the extent of buff suffusion shown by most individuals of previous race, and with heavier, darker centres of feathers on  the flanks. The race timorensis is like the preceding two but duller and paler, with a much reduced scaly pattern and buffy grey on the sides of the head.

Seven subspecies recognized:

• Pnoepyga pusilla pusilla: Distributed in North India (South East Uttarakhand) and Nepal East to all NE Indian hill states, N, W, E and SE Myanmar (including N Tenasserim), S and SE China (S Shaanxi S to SE Tibet and Yunnan, E to S Anhui and Zhejiang), NW Thailand, N and C Laos and N Vietnam (W Tonkin, N Annam); also (probably this race) Hainan.

• Pnoepyga pusilla annamensis: Distributed in SW Cambodia, S Vietnam (S Annam) and, possibly this race, C Annam and S Laos.

• Pnoepyga pusilla harterti: Distributed in S Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia.

• Pnoepyga pusilla lepida: Distributed in Sumatra.

• Pnoepyga pusilla rufa: Distributed in Java.

• Pnoepyga pusilla everetti: Distributed in Flores.

• Pnoepyga pusilla timorensis: Distributed in W Timor.

Its natural habitats are the floor and understorey of broadleaf evergreen forest, densely vegetated forest ravines, mossy boulders, fallen logs, dense fern growth & luxuriant moss. A similar habitat on Flores, described as montane forest, Eupatrium scrub and occasionally roadside regrowth and tall secondary forest. On Timor the Pygmy Cupwing occurs around large rocky outcrops. The main range in Bhutan is apparently upper warm broadleaf forest at 1500–2000m. It is generally found at 200–3050m; in the Indian Subcontinent 1000–2850m, locally to 3050m, some descending as low as 200m in winter. 520–2800m in China; 180–2565m in SE Asia, breeding above 750 m; 900–3000m on Sumatra; 1300–3000m in Java; 900–1900m on Flores & 1800–2000m on Timor. It occupies lower elevational range than P. albiventer, in similar habitat.

The Pygmy Cupwing is a resident bird with some local altitudinal movements (less marked than those of P. albiventer). In Bhutan they are present at breeding elevations between March and October while in India they are regarded as an uncommon winter migrant in both Nameri and Kaziranga National Parks (Assam), but possibly resident in both.

Their diet consists of ants (Formicidae) and other small insects, spiders (Araneae), snails and grubs. They forage on or close to the ground usually among leaf litter, around rotting tree trunks and among tangled vegetation; occasionally climbing up to 2m in trees, but mostly keeping to thicker moss-covered branches. They are heard more often than seen.

Their song is an unmistakable, very high-pitched, well-spaced, piercing “ti—ti—tu” (approximately 4 seconds long), repeated every 3–5 seconds, sometimes with shorter spaces between the last two notes (observed in NW Thailand & W Tonkin); or a simple “ti—tu” or “tseéét—tsúút” (observed in the Himalayas, W Myanmar, S Annam); or sometimes in the Indian Subcontinent just a series of falling “tseeeet” notes.

The breeding season is between March and September in more northern parts of its range, with song period mainly between mid-Mar to late Apr in Bhutan, but juveniles have been recorded late July and September. It is between November and August in SE Asia, July to May on Java and November to December on Sumatra. The nest is built by both sexes and is either a small ball of moss, rootlets, bark shreds and leaf skeletons, or a built-in structure made of long strands of brilliant green moss, the inner strands compactly and firmly woven to form a tiny cup. The nest is both well lined with black or other rootlets and fibres and placed in moss, orchids, ferns or creepers hanging down tree trunks, vertical rocks, fallen log, bank by trail or upturned tree roots, usually 0·5–2 m (occasionally to 6 m) above ground. The clutch is usually 2–6 eggs and are white, rarely showing one or two faint spots. These Pygmy Cupwings have been recorded on Sumatra performing broken-wing distraction display near nest.

The Pygmy Cupwing is not globally threatened and therefore classified as Least Concern. They are frequent in Nepal, fairly widespread at low densities in Bhutan. Fairly common in India, where 0·3 birds/km² in semi-evergreen forest in Buxa Tiger Reserve (West Bengal); present also in Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary and Mouling National Park and Namdapha National Park (Arunachal Pradesh). Formerly resident in Bangladesh, but there have been no recent records. Rare in Shiwandashan National Nature Reserve (Guangxi), in China; first recorded on Hainan I in 2005, when eight individuals found at two sites. Generally common in SE Asian range. Common in Doi Inthanon National Park, in Thailand. Present in Nakai-Nam Theun National Biodiversity Conservation Area, in Laos. In Vietnam, present in Ba Be National Park (in N), and in Thuong Da Nhim and Chu Yang Sin Nature Reserves (Da Lat Plateau, in S Annam); also in three protected areas in the Annamese Lowlands Endemic Bird Area. Present in Gunung Leuser and Kerinci-Seblat National Parks, on Sumatra, and very common on Mt Kerinci. Common in Gunung Gede-Pangrango National Park, in W Java. Very common on Flores above 1200 m. On Timor known only from Mt Mutis, which has been a nature reserve since 1983; fairly common there.

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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