Pied Triller chasing Black-naped Oriole – nest protection behaviour

“Some observations are too fast to document easily on camera or video. I have seen Pied Trillers (Lalage nigra) defend their nests a number of times by chasing off the intruder. I have also noted Black-naped Orioles (Oriolus chinensis maculatus) robing the nests of other birds.

“On this occasion I saw a Black-naped Oriole approach close to a nesting pair of Pied Triller. The male Pied Triller immediately swung into action and began to ‘harass’ the Black-naped Oriole by close fly-pasts (see poor image above).

“After a number of attempts, that did not succeed, it ‘dive-bombing’ the Black-naped Oriole and managed to chase it off. The chase continued for > 300-400 meters (above). I have occasionally seen Pied Triller chase the offending/intruding bird quite some distance.”

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
11th February 2018

Location: Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Habitat: Urban environment