New kite in town

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NEW RESIDENT: The Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) is a medium-sized raptor with a distinct white head, neck and chest-like a shawl draped over its head. Its entire body is bright chestnut. — Photo by Hans Hazebroek

IN May this year, a Brahminy Kite moved into Kuching, and set up home on Bukit Hantu. If you are sitting in traffic on Jalan Bukit Hantu, or even Bampfylde Road, keep your eyes peeled and you might spot him.

A Brahminy Kite is a bird of prey. It is a common enough bird throughout Sarawak, and its distinctive chestnut and white colours give it a local name – the Winston Eagle!

In actuality, it is not an eagle, but a kite. Kites are a member of the eagle family, and have some features that are very different from true eagles. The most obvious, if you ever get to see a kite up close, is its lack of a protruding eyebrow.

Most members of the bird of prey family are characterised by having very pronounced eyebrows, making their eyes look deep-set and hooded, and this is what gives eagles their fierce look. Kites don’t have this.

Brahminy Kites are common birds in most urban areas, and this was the case in Kuching until the 90s. In the past 10 years or so, they have altogether disappeared from urban Kuching. Well, one kite has returned, and this is wonderful.

Kites are among the most adaptable of raptors, the general name for all birds of prey. They can eat carrion as well as their normal diet of small lizards, small birds, rats, squirrels, frogs and even the occasional snake if they find one.

If one heads northwards from Malaysia, into Indochina and the Indian subcontinent, another species of kite becomes very familiar. This is the Black Kite, a very common city bird.

The Black Kite has adapted to feeding on leftovers in cities, and where sanitation and rubbish collection is underdeveloped, they can build up their populations into the hundreds. In some cases, they become a pest.

This new arrival in Kuching is most welcomed. Our beautiful green city is a perfect environment for birds, and we should make every effort to encourage birds to live alongside us. Their graceful flight and presence makes for a richer natural environment for us city folk.

The signs are that Kuching is welcoming back many species of birds that used to be around, but have disappeared. It means we have the environment to support them. They can find food, shelter and places to breed right in our city.

In the past year, White-bellied Sea Eagles have been seen around the Petanak and Padungan areas. These huge black and white eagles (the largest eagles in Borneo, with two-metre wingspans) are normally seen along the coast, and on the Santubong and Bako peninsulas, but they may be spreading inland into downtown Kuching.

Also, at the old race-course at Padungan, a Rufous-bellied Eagle was seen in February this year.

This is a forest bird, and quite rare in Sarawak. What it was doing over Kuching we don’t know, but nevertheless, we were most happy to see one here.

During the months of October to March each year, we also have several Peregrine Falcons spending the winter in downtown Kuching. These magnificent flyers live on top of our tall buildings, feeding on swifts, swallows and even bats.

Peregrine Falcons are the fastest flying birds in the world, clocked at speeds of over 300km per hour in level flight, and modern fighter aircraft copy their aerodynamic form. If you keep looking up every now and then, you might just spot one right in downtown Kuching. How cool is that?

Kuching is one of the greenest cities in Malaysia, with many sprawling gardens and tree-covered areas, and this is undoubtedly why we have so many birds living right amongst us.

The birds of prey are the obvious ones, simply because they are large, and they tend to spend time soaring in midday, making them visible. There are many, many more species that we don’t see.

In fact, there have been 198 species of birds recorded around urban Kuching, making our city the richest and most diverse bird-city in Malaysia.

I can’t speak for you, but for me, I am rather pleased to call Kuching home.

Welcome, Mr Brahminy Kite of Bukit Hantu, to Kuching. I hope you stay for many years to come.