Bird Group

Common Coot Sighting Verified.

The MNS Bird Conservation Council's Records Committee recently accepted the recent 
sighting by one of our member of a rare winter migrant at Timah-Tasoh, Perlis. With this 
acceptance, the sighting of the Common Coot or Eurasian Coot Fulica atra is the second 
sighting for Malaysia and the first for the state of Perlis. The first sighting of this bird was 
about half a year earlier at Malim Nawar, Perak (this sighting was also accepted during 
the same sitting).

The Coot was spotted in February over 3 days. This species is not known to migrate 
further than central Thailand during the northern winter. Although not uncommon in the 
northern countries, they have never been spotted here before. The Committee decided to 
accept the sighting based on several factors:

1.	The bird were observed over several days giving enough time for positive 
identification and to distinguish it from the similar looking Common Moorhen 
which was also present.
2.	High quality optics was used to observe the bird.
3.	There was good lighting during the sightings.

Timah-Tasoh has a growing list of about 140 species. The best time to watch birds at 
Timah-Tasoh is between October and March.

Future activities:

The Bird Group is organizing a trip to Thale Noi Bird Sanctuary in Thailand in December 
1999 (See the Activities page for more information). Thale Noi is located about 4 hours 
drive from Alor Setar or about 2 hours from Songkhla. Seats are limited so please book 
early. Contact Tan Dek for more information.

The Bird Group is constantly organizing shorter trips to various part of the area. If you 
are interested to join in the group's activities, contact Tan Dek at (o) 04 938 1580, (h) 04 
977 8845 or cptps@tm.net.my