Annual migration by birds of prey provides spectacle for public

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DR Chan Kai Soon and his wife Susan Cheong look forward to the period between late September and October each year.

It is during this time that thousands of birds of prey, or raptors, pass over Taiping on their way to Indonesia to escape the cold winter months in the Northern Hemisphere.

“Not many people in Taiping are aware of the spectacular show that is played out here every year.

Informat ive: A handicraft centre to encourage both children and adults to know more about the raptors.

“The raptors, including hawks, buzzards and the baza, number in the thousands,” said Dr Chan, while gazing up at the sky from Scott’s Hill during a recent raptor watching session organised by the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS).

Dr Chan and his wife, who are members of the society, have been watching the birds of prey make their journey down south for the past five years.

Teacher Rashidah Yusof said the session, which was held in conjunction with the inaugural Taiping Raptor Festival 2011, was an eye-opener for her.

“No wonder we don’t notice them. They appear like specs of dust in the sky,” said Rashidah, who managed to get a closer look at the raptors with the aid of a pair of binoculars loaned to her by an MNS member.

MNS member Jasmine Steed, who volunteered as the event’s public relations officer, answered questions from the public who were curious about the raptors.

In flight: A Black Baza soaring into the sky.

“During winter, there is not much food and so they migrate to the south to search for food and also to rest,” she said.

Steed said the flocks were usually made up of the Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Chinese Goshawk, Japanese Sparrowhawk, Black Baza, Oriental Honey-Buzzard and Brahminy Kite.

An exhibition on raptors was held at the Taiping Sentral Mall simultaneously during the festival while the Taiping Zoo conducted a talk on the raptors of Malaysia.