To spot the Ashy Tailorbird in Malaysia, you can visit most parks and forest reserves, lowland forests or even tropical mangrove areas, as they are frequently seen. This is one of the beautiful smaller birds that can be quite frustrating to spot or even photograph when bird watching or photography.
Ashy Tailorbird in Malaysia
The Ashy Tailorbird (Orthotomus ruficeps) is a small, active grey bird with a long bill and a dark-tipped, frequently-cocked-up tail. The males are grey-throated, whereas females have white throats and both an orange face.
These little birds sometimes resemble warblers and are often busy jumping from branches to small to medium trees. Sometimes they are also active in the late mornings to afternoons.
In terms of conservation, the Ashy Tailorbird is put on the red list of threatened species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Places to Spot the Ashy Tailorbird
There are many places to spot this little bird, and they are commonly found around mangrove forests, lowland forests, secondary forests and even in general parks and recreational areas.
In Malaysia, they are spotted throughout the country, from the peninsula from the east to the west and to Sabah and Sarawak. Over in Borneo, Malaysia, the Ashy Tailorbird can be seen at the Rainforest Discovery Centre or RDC in Sepilok, Sabah.
At peninsular, popular places include Paya Indah Wetlands in Dengkil, Kuala Selangor Nature Park in Selangor, Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve in Perak, and the coastal forest areas in west Malaysia.
They are also native to Southeast Asia and are commonly spotted in Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Southern Vietnam and Cambodia.
I personally photographed this bird at the Paya Indah Wetlands in Dengkil Selangor in April of 2021. I also used a Nikon DSLR with a Sigma 150-600 mm lens for the closeup photos, which were handheld.
Conclusion
This is a bird watchers article about birds that can be spotted around Malaysia and serves as a quick guide to let birders know that the bird has been spotted here.
In Malaysia, the Ashy Tailorbird is probably one of the common birds to spot while bird watching and is easily identified from the ash and orange colours.
