Mang Den Vietnam January 5-7 2019

CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF VIETNAM

Kon Tum and Mang Den

January 5-7, 2019

Callyn Yorke

Following a four-hour delayed departure from the DaLat bus terminal, we hung on for a rough five-hour bus ride, arriving in Kon Tum just after daybreak. That brought us within striking distance of one of the premier birding areas on the Kon Tum Plateau in Central Vietnam. The scene of heavy fighting during the American-Vietnamese War, this region was until the early 1990’s, relatively unexplored by ornithologists. Nowadays, the Kon Tum-Mang Den area is a popular destination for professionally guided bird tours.

There remains here some of the best upland rain forest (i.e. secondary forest) in the country, supporting several species and subspecies of the most sought after endemic and near-endemic birds in the world.

Nearly all of those species would be lifers for me, e.g. Coral-billed Scimitar Babbler, Black-hooded Laughingthrush and the recently discovered, Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush. And there was no one better qualified to find them than the former forestry biologist and co-author of Birds of Vietnam (Lynx Edicions 2018), Le Quy Minh.

‘Minh’ had arranged a local car and driver for the birding expedition. The driver, Dinh, although a non-birder, knew the area well and with Minh’s guidance, safely transported us to the best birding spots in the region. Ecotourism infrastructure in Vietnam is poorly developed but there is affordable, clean lodging in almost every town.

Minh had pre-booked relatively new hotel, the T&T in Mang Den, which was conveniently located within a few minutes drive of the birding areas, e.g. HWY 676. Except for an explosively loud band outside my room the first night, the T&T was clean, comfortable and friendly. The food was mainly traditional Vietnamese, which was tasty. English is not widely spoken in Vietnam, especially in the more remote areas such as Mang Den. Fortunately, that wasn’t a problem. Minh provided Vietnamese-English translations throughout the trip.

The weather during our visit varied from nearly constant rain and drizzle to clear, bright and warm. Conditions for photography of birds also varied with the weather, e.g. glaring sun, deep shade, and rain, but even more so with the wariness of the subjects. Generally, birds in Vietnam are shy and distrustful of people, particularly of those aiming something at them. Hunting and trapping of birds are commonplace throughout the country; decidedly more so in rural and mountainous regions. Consequently, I captured only a handful of reproducible images of birds on this three-day tour of the Kon Tum Highlands. Brief, fleeting glimpses were largely what was obtained, especially in the dense understory of secondary forests. Minh often used playback of bird sounds to attract secretive species, e.g laughingthrushes. But often, birds would come in quickly, appraise the situation (possibly recognizing the trick), and disappear back into the forest. In other cases, the bird’s vocalization was all that could be detected. A birder must learn how to handle a binocular like a gunslinger at the OK Corral, in order to have any chance of seeing many Vietnamese birds. Moreover, one must often choose their weapon wisely: camera or binocular?

That said, my bird list for the trip, summarized during our bus trip from Kon Tum to Da Nang on the afternoon of January 7, approached one-hundred species, including several lifers. It was definitely an exciting, worthwhile, though very brief trip. Minh, an experienced guide, worked diligently to be sure I had visual contact with as many species as possible. In fact, without his help, my bird list for the trip would have been significantly shorter. The following is an annotated checklist of the birds we found.

ANNOTATED BIRD LIST: KON TUM & MANG DEN, VIETNAM

January 5-7, 2019

KEY

Nomenclature largely follows Birdlife International 2018 Checklist of Birds of the World. Numbers of individuals observed are indicated; sex (m,f) and age (ad, imm) are noted when known; Mixed species flock (msf); Location Abbreviations: In transit between Kon Tum & Mang Den = HWY24; Mang Den, roadside and trails, Road 676 = MD; Mang Den – Mang Canh = MC; Kon Tum, including the French colonial prison historical site = KT; In transit from Pleiku to Kon Tum = PK.

• Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) introduced exotic 5 roadside village, HWY24.
• Domestic Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata) 10 in paddifields and ponds, MC.
• Domestic Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 50 in paddifields and ponds, MC.
• Rock Dove (Columba livia) 50 in town, PK.
• Eastern Spotted Dove (Spilopelia chinensis) 2 MC.
• Red Turtle Dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica) 2 prison site, KT.
• Barred Cuckoo-Dove (Macropygia unchall) 1 fly by, MD.
• Gray-capped Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica 1 vocal (unseen), MC.
• Mountain Imperial Pigeon (Ducula badia) 5 individuals perched in tall tree canopies; flying over forest, MD (photo below).

• Chestnut-winged Cuckoo (Clamator coromandus) 1 MD.
• Chinese Pond Heron (Ardeola bacchus) 5 loosely gregarious in wet fields, MC; 1 KT.
• Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) 2 open field, PK.
• Eastern Cattle Egret (Bulbucus ibis coromandus) 5 gregarious in open field, MC.
• Collared Owlet (Glaucidium brodiei) 2 vocal (unseen) tall secondary forest, MD.
• Black Eagle (Ictinaetus malaiensis) 1 adult over forest, MC.
• Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela) 1 vocal (unseen) MD.
• Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus) 1 MD.
• Rufous-winged Buzzard (Butaster liventer) 1 flying over forest, HWY24.
• Red-headed Trogon (Harpactes erythrocephalus) 1 vocal (unseen) tall secondary forest, MD.
• Blue-bearded Bee-eater (Nyctyornis athertoni) 1 vocal (unseen) MD.
• Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) 1 in tree at edge of paddifield, MC.
• Green-eared Barbet (Psilopogon faiostrictus) 1 MD.
• Red-vented Barbet (Psilopogon lagrandieri) 2 vocal, responding to playback, deforested area,MD (photo below) .

• Necklaced Barbet (Psilopogon auricularis) 1 MD.
• White-browed Piculet (Sasia ochracea) 1 (vocal) mature secondary forest understory and middle levels, MD.
• Bay Woodpecker (Blythipicus pyrrhotis) 2 vocal (unseen) tall secondary forest, MC,MD.
• Gray-capped Pygmy Woodpecker (Picoides canicapillus) 1 vocal, MC.
• Rusty-naped Pitta (Hydrornis oatesi) 1 unresponsive to playback; flew across trail at forest edge, MD.
• Yellow-billed Nuthatch (Sitta solangiae) 2 msf in subcanopy, MD (photo below).

• Clicking Shrike-babbler (Pteruthius intermedius) 1 in msf tall secondary forest subcanopy, MD.
• White-bellied Erpornis (Erpornis zantholeuca) 10 canopy and subcanopy, often in msf, MC, MD (photo below).

• Gray-chinned Minivet (Pericrocotus solaris) 4 gregarious, in canopy of tall secondary forest, MD (photo below).

• Scarlet Minivet (Pericrocotus speciosus) 2 in canopy of tall secondary forest, MD.
• Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike (Hemipus picatus) 6 usually in msf, middle to subcanopy, forest edge, MC, MD.
• Large Woodshrike (Tephrodornis virgatus) solitary trees in deforested field, MD.
• Chinese Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone incei) 1 vocal (unseen) MD.
• Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) 1 perched on roadside shrub, MD (photo below).

• Chinese Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) 2 perched on roadside shrub, MD (photo below).

• Racquet-tailed Treepie (Crypsirinia temia) 1 MD.
• Ratchet-tailed Treepie (Temnurus temnurus) 1 MD.
• White-winged Magpie (Urocissa xanthomelana) 4 gregarious, shy, MD.
• Indochinese Green Magpie (Cissa hypoleuca) 2 resp. to playback but wary and retiring, MD.
• Eastern Jungle Crow (Corvus levaillantii) 6 gregarious, vocal, MC, MD (photo below).

• Ashy Drongo (Dicrurus leucophaeus) 2 MC, MD.
• Lesser Racquet-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus remifer) 3 msf in subcanopy MC, MD.
• White-throated Fantail (Rhipidura albicollis) 3 in msf, MC, MD.
• Large Niltava (Niltava grandis) 1 MC.
• Mugamaki Flycatcher (Ficedula mugimaki) 1 vocal (unseen) MD.
• Hill Blue-Flycatcher (Cyornis whitei) 1 vocal (unseen) MD.
• Pale Blue-Flycatcher (Cyornis unicolor) 1 MC.
• Verditer Flycatcher (Eumyias thalassinus) 3 MC, MD.
• Asian Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica) 2 MD.
• Gray-headed Canary Flycatcher (Culicicapa ceylonensis) 10 msf, MC, MD (photo below).

• Yellow-cheeked Tit (Machlolophus spilonotus) 2 gregarious, MD (photo below).

• Annam Sultan Tit (Melanochlora gayeti) 1 MD.
• Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus) 2 in msf, MD.
• Gray-crowned Tit (Aegethalos annamensis) 1 MD (photo below).

• Hill Prinia (Prinia superciliaris) vocal (unseen) MC.
• Dark-necked Tailorbird (Orthotomus atrogularis) 2 MC, MD.
• Eurasian Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 2 KT.
• Southern Sooty-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster) 1 HWY24.
• Ashy Bulbul (Hemixos flavala) 2 MC, MD.
• Northern Mountain Bulbul (Ixos mcclellandii) 10 msf, vocal, MC, MD.
• White-headed Black Bulbul (Hysipetes leucocephalus leucocephalus) 4 with flock of 10 common black-headed forms, gregarious, MD (photo below).

• Black Bulbul (Hysipetes leucocephalus concolor) 10 with WHBB, MD.
• Black-crested Bulbul (Pycnonotus flaviventris) 1 MD.
• Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) 1 (vocal) MD.
• Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inorntatus) vocal, ubiquitous.
• Kloss’s Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus ogilviegranti) 2 MD (photo below).

• Rufous-faced Warbler (Abroscopus albogularis) 1 responsive to playback, forest understory, MD (photo below).

• Gray-bellied Tesia (Tesia cyaniventer) 1 forest understory, MD.
• Black-browed Fulvetta (Alcippe grotei) 2 msf forest subcanopy, MD.
• Mountain Fulvetta (Alcippe paracensis) 2 msf lower level of forest and understory, MD.
• Gray-headed Parrotbill (Psittiparus gularis) 2 msf forest subcanopy, MD.
• Black-chinned Yuhina (Yuhina nigrimenta) 1 msf, msf, middle storey forest, MD (photo below).

• White-eye (Zosterops sp.) 3 vocal, MD.
• Coral-billed (White-throated) Scimitar-babbler (Pomatorhynus albogularis) 1 lower middle and understory level of forest, MD.
• Red-billed Scimitar-babbler (Pomatorhynus ochraceiceps) vocal (unseen) forest edge with stream, MC.
• Short-tailed (Indochinese) Scimitar-babbler (Rimator danjoui) vocal (unseen) MC.
• Spot-throated Babbler (Pellorneum albiventre) 2 roadside scrub (vocal) shy, MD.
• Golden Babbler (Cyanoderma chrysaeum) 2 msf lower middle level in forest, MD.
• Austen’s Wren-babbler (Napothera roberti) 2 vocal (unseen), MC, MD.
• Streaked Wren-babbler (Turdinus brevicaudatus) 1 vocal (unseen) MD.
• Black-hooded Laughingthrush (Garrulax mulleti) 15 vocal, gregarious, resp. to playback though shy, in middle to lower middle level in forest, MC, MD.
• Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush (Garrulax konkakinhensis) 2 vocal, very shy in forest understory, MD.
• Silver-eared Mesia (Leiothrix argentauris) 2 msf upper middle level of forest, MD.
• Vinous-breasted Myna (Acridotheres leucocephalus) 7 gregarious, vocal, MD (photo below).

• Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) 2 MC.
• Chestnut-tailed Starling (Sturnia malabarica) 10 gregarious in and around dead tree cavity (nest site?) in partially cleared field, MD (photo below).

• Greyish-crowned Leafbird (Chloropsis lazulina) 5 gregarious, MD.
• Streaked Spiderhunter (Arachnothera magna) 2 vocal, MC, MD.
• Black-throated Sunbird (Aethopyga saturata) 1 MD (photo – see intro).
• Fork-tailed Sunbird (Aethopyga latouchii) 1 MD.
• Indian Sparrow (Passer indicus) 2 KT.
• Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) ubiquitous in villages and towns.
• Gray Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) 4 open areas, including wet fields and stream sides, MC, MD.