Chestnut-Bellied Malkoha collecting nesting material

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS was at the Kledang-Sayong Forest Reserve in Ipoh, Malaysia on 29th August 2009 when he photographed a pair of Chestnut-Bellied Malkohas (Phaenicophaeus sumatranus) building their nest. In the field it was easy to see the chestnut belly but no so in the images.

The nest was located 7-9 meters up in an Eucalyptus tree. The malkohas were collecting dead branches from the nearby forest trees, about 20-30 meters away. One bird (?male) was doing most of the work of gathering the branches and the other (hidden in the foliage) was helping to build the nest.

“The nest itself was hard to see as I kept my distance so as not to disturb. Took me some time to locate as they were very careful to make their away to the nest by different routes each time, scampering up the tree or adjacent trees before going to the nest hidden in the foliage,” added Amar. Wells (2007) reports nest building activities in January, June & July. This record is late. Also, the records states nest at 1.5-6 metes high, this was definitely higher.”

All images by Amar-Singh HSS (Dato, Dr)

Reference:
Wells, D.R., 2007. The birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsular. Vol. II, Passerines. Christopher Helm, London. 800 pp.