10/08/2025

ON SUNDAY August 10, 2025 II theSunday Special

The birds are watching you Malaysians are tuning in to a quieter, feathered world they barely noticed before T HERE’S something oddly cap tivating about the moment you realise you’re being observed not by another person, but by a bird. Perched calmly on a

Noticing the unnoticed One of the greatest gifts of birdwatching is that it teaches you to notice the details. What starts as vague awareness “there’s D ELUG´ TXLFNO\ EHFRPHV GL̆ HUHQWLDWLRQ Amyna from a bulbul, a sunbird from a sparrow. Then comes the deeper noticing ± WKHLU FDOOV SRVWXUHV WKH ÀLFN RI D WDLO the way they forage or fan their feathers to dry after rain. In Malaysia, we are fortunate to share space with over 800 species of birds, including residents, migrants and oc casional visitors. Even urban centres like Kuala Lumpur and Penang are surprisingly bird-rich. You might spot olive-backed sunbirds nesting in curtain rods, hear the loud, laughing call of the zebra dove in car SDUNV RU FDWFK WKH ÀDVK RI \HOORZ IURP D

black-naped oriole in your neighbourhood tree. Public parks and recreational green spaces like Taman Tugu, Bukit Kiara, Penang’s Youth Park and even Subang Ria Park are informal birding hotspots. Here, \RX¶OO ¿QG HDUO\ PRUQLQJ UHJXODUV ± MRJJHUV photographers and, increasingly, amateur birders equipped with nothing more than patience and a decent smartphone zoom. Birding sharpens your senses. It asks for stillness but not silence. You begin to hear PRUH ± WKH GL̆ HUHQFH EHWZHHQ D FKLUS D whistle and a trill. You learn when to look up, when to scan undergrowth and when to wait simply. It’s an invitation to slow down, to stay rooted in one place and to let the natural world come to you instead of chasing it.

BY SIMON VELLA

branch or a telephone wire, it watches with such stillness that it feels almost medita tive. For many Malaysians, this realisation sparks a quiet curiosity that soon blossoms into something more profound. Welcome to the world of birdwatching, where what begins as idle noticing becomes a lifelong habit of wonder. Birdwatching or birding is often imagined as a niche pursuit reserved for UHWLUHHV ZLWK ÀRSS\ KDWV DQG ¿HOG JXLGHV But that image is quickly fading. Across the world and increasingly in Malaysia, a growing number of younger urbanites are embracing birding not only as a hobby but also as a way to reconnect with the natural world right from their doorsteps. What’s remarkable about birds is their accessibility. You don’t need to visit a jungle, own expensive gear or travel far. Birds are everywhere. They perch on balcony railings, hop along sidewalks, call from tree canopies and glide through urban skies. They arrive with the sunrise, slip into the background by mid-morning and rejoin the conversation as the sun begins to set. All you need to start bird watching is attention – the birds do the rest.

What begins as background sound becomes a symphony once you learn how to listen.”

Majestic ... Indian Peafowl in our local habitat.

Photo Credit: Mahendran Ganesan