“I have previously observed Plume-toed Swiftlet (Collocalia affinis) collecting nesting material 8 times:
a. Twice collecting strands from creepers
b. Pnce collecting fibre from Livistona chinensis palms
c. Three times stealing material from Baya Weaver nests (Amar-Singh HSS. Glossy Swiftlet Collocalia esculenta stealing nesting material from Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus nests in Perak, Malaysia. BirdingASIA 16 Dec 2011).
d. Once harvesting aerial roots from epiphytes plants growing on trees.
e. Once collecting the bark of a Rain Tree (Albizia saman) – stripping off strands of bark.
“Today I saw two more collecting episodes 1 km apart:
1. One was 5 birds collecting the ‘leaves’ of a Casuarina tree (possibly the Casuarina equisetifolia) – (top).
2. The second was 6 birds collecting dried bracken leaves (Dicranopteris linearis) – (above).
“Images are hard as the birds harvest material from various sites and live up to their names of being swift. Material collected with the beak.
“I am using nomenclature from Rheindt, Christidis, Norman, et al (2017) who have split the Plume-toed Swiftlet (C. affinis) from the Glossy Swiftlet (C. esculenta).”
Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
4th May 2019
Location: Kledang-Sayong Forest Reserve, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Habitat: Fringe of primary jungle
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