Birds from North Borneo: University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History, Volume 17, No. 8, pp. 377-433, October 27, 1966Thompson, Max C.
Science
Birds from North Borneo: University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History, Volume 17, No. 8, pp. 377-433, October 27, 1966
Thompson, Max C.
Birds -- Malaysia -- Sabah
_Fluviatile waters._--There are numerous small streams in the Quoin Hill
area, the largest being the Balung River and Apas River. Little work was
done along these streams and only the thrushes of the genus _Enicurus_
and some kingfishers seemed to be confined to them.
_Cocoa plantations._--Artificial plantings of cocoa, _Theobroma cacao_,
formed a major habitat type at Quoin Hill, and provided a major source
of food for birds. Cocoa planters have found it necessary to provide
shade with trees of some other species. In some instances trees from the
original primary forest were left standing to provide this shade, but
more often exotic trees were planted. Most of the shade trees were of no
use to birds save for providing resting places. _Trema orientalis_ was
the most important in providing food for birds. Its fruit was used more
by the frugivorous species of birds than that of any other tree in the
cocoa plantings. Tree Cassava, an exotic, was constantly attended by the
nectariniids, or honey creepers.
Although the cocoa plantings did not provide much plant material for
bird food, they did apparently nourish a horde of insects, which the
birds fed upon. A Drongo-cuckoo, _Surniculus lugubris_, had 50
caterpillars in its stomach. Healthy cocoa trees were sparsely inhabited
by birds but areas that were obviously infested with insects literally
swarmed with birds. Dead shade trees in the cocoa plantings also
provided food for woodpeckers, with four species being found utilizing
these dead trees.
_Abaca._--The last of the habitat types that I recognized at Quoin Hill
was a small grove of Abaca, _Musa textilis_, and wild bananas, _Musa_
sp. This habitat type was frequented by spiderhunters (_Arachnothera_
sp.) of the family Nectariniidae.
KALABAKAN.--We worked at three localities in this area: 12 miles north
of Kalabakan, Brantian Estate, and Kalabakan.
_Primary forest._--We were fortunate in being able to work on the very
edge of the primary forest 12 miles north of Kalabakan. The composition
of the primary forest was much like that at Quoin Hill and will not be
discussed further. About a month after we arrived at our forest camp,
logging crews moved in and cut the commercial timber near our area. The
only immediately noticeable difference in the makeup of the avifauna
after destruction of the forest canopy was the appearance of the drongo
_Dicrurus aeneus_. This drongo was seen in areas where the trees had
been cut, sitting on limbs and darting out after insects.
_Secondary forest._--The area around Kalabakan proper was in secondary
forest, which was almost impossible to penetrate. At Kalabakan,
_Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchus_, _Cecropsia striolata_, and _Macronous
ptilosus_ were taken and I did not see them elsewhere. Kalabakan is
situated on the Kalabakan River at the upper tidal limit. The
Nipa-Mangrove association, not investigated, lies immediately below
Kalabakan.
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