Black Bittern's Journey of Hope

(Photo Credit: Mr Aaron).  Busy Friday afternoon of meetings, when I saw missed calls on my mobile phone from someone named Aaron. His family had rescued a Black Bittern which had unexpectedly landed on their garden earlier that day. Feisty waterbird with a very sharp bill. Weak from visible exhaustion and unable to stand on both legs, the bittern was still alert in watching out for us when we tried to take a closer look at it to examine its wings for blood or bone injury. It lunged out twice when we brought it out of the cage, so I had to close its bill (as gently as possible). Thanks to Dr Muhamad Ridhwan, Veterinary Officer of Zoo Taiping who responded to my messages on what to look out for in an injured bird. 

 According to the Thai National Parks website which can be read HERE, the Black Bittern is listed as threatened in the State of Victoria, Australia under their Act on Flora & Fauna 1988 and in 2007, it was listed as vulnerable.

I bought a small-size Mangrove Crab (Nipah) around 220g from NSK since I read in the Heron Conservation website that the Black Bittern's diet included crabs. Unfortunately, this rescued Bittern had no appetite whatsoever. 

Perhilitan Shah Alam officers listed in their website were Mr. Mohd Khairi (011-5661 6513) khairi@wildlife.gov.my and Mr. Mazuan (mazuan@wildlife.gov.my). Mr Cheong Weng Chun had  shared their contact information with me after I had posted for help in Wild Bird Club Malaysia group. Mr Aaron contacted Perhilitan and one of the officers came to collect the weak Black Bittern on the same day itself. The Black Bittern is a species of Heron. 11 observations of the Black Bittern species were recorded for the State of Sarawak in eBird Malaysia portal which can be read HERE. It is a species of Bittern described as one that may be difficult to see in Peninsular Malaysia. Yellow Bittern and Cinnamon Bittern species are more commonly spotted by me when I birded around Sungai Balang and Sungai Rambai areas in Malacca & Johor.

The Heron Conservation website published some information on Black Bittern Ixobrychus flavicollis (Latham) which can be read HERE. This species is also known as Yellow-necked Bittern, Mangrove Bittern, with different names in Spanish, French, German, Philippines, Indonesian (Kokokan Sungai) and Chinese (Hei Yan) listed in the website as well. Eleven observations of the Black Bittern species were recorded in eBird Malaysia portal for the State of Sarawak, Malaysia which can be read HERE  where I had also entered a checklist for one seen flying across the pond just above my head’s level at the Sarawak Cultural Village. I had the opportunity to bird around the Cultural village with a group of volunteers from Spain, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Colombia (South American countries) post-Asian Birdwatching Fair 2019. I had posted about ABF 2019 which was hosted by Sarawak State Government, earlier in my blog and the wonderful encounters with the Hooded Pitta and Black Bittern which can be read HERE. I miss the café in one of the streets of Kuching, which Mr Low Kok Hen had recommended for us to visit. It was an old-school café which displayed huge jars of coffee beans of different varieties comprising of Arabica, Sumatran, Ethiopian including beans sourced from far-flung regions of Papua New Guinea. We had coffee from that shop and bought some back to our exhibition booth to share with our friends at the exhibition booths during the Fair.