“I was watching some wetland birds at an overgrown ex-mining pool when I noticed a pair of Yellow-bellied Prinia (Prinia flaviventris rafflesi) with prey just 4 meters away from me. Recognising they were nesting, I was about to leave, when the pair calmly came forwards to enter the nest. The nest itself is not visible, having being built in a dense clump of tall grass. I decided to remain as details about prey for this species needs consolidation locally. I stayed for 15 minutes and watched the next 10 feeding episodes. There was no major distress among the parents.
“In the past I have seen spiders, moths and caterpillars as prey for young. The 10 consecutive prey seen were:
1. A Lynx Spider, possibly the Common Garden Lynx (Oxyopes lineatipes) – (above 2 images).
2. Green caterpillar (above).
3. A small brown snail (above).
4. Spider (species unknown, looked like a jumping spider)
5. A Damselfly, possibly family Platycnemididae (above).
6. A small white Moth (tends to rest under leaves) (above).
7. Green caterpillar
8. Small brown insect
9. Snails – 4 small white/cream snails (above).
10. Small crushed brown insect (above).
The prey that surprised me was the snails (the ID is certain & two different types noted).
Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
15th April 2018
Location: Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Habitat: Secondary growth at fringe of city
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