Last Observed: June 2016 – Koh Chang Last Observed By: Eric Maria Finder
The Hoopoe is found throughout almost all of the non-cold, non-desert parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. It is a splendidly coloured and decorated bird with a very distinct crest of orange and black feathers usually protruding out behind its head. The Hoopoe is a territorial and serially monogomous bird and fights between mals can be fierce. The crest is of course for display and is raised into full head-dress mode as required for showing who’s boss.
It’s cry is a very distinctive “oop-oop-oop” sound so keep an ear out.
Last Observed: March 2017 – Koh Chang Last Observed By: Paul Dunn, Dave Hinchliffe
The greater racket-tailed drongo is a splendid Koh Chang resident bird that you will notice due to their two elongated tail feathers that are mainly bare and only feathered at the end (like rackets I guess if you’re naming animals whilst watching tennis, or on drugs).
They are noted for their loud calls and their ability to impersonate other bird calls.
I’ve seen them on two occasions fighting, whilst in flight, and succesfully driving away, the much larger white-bellied sea eagle for which they deserve immense respect.
You’d guess that this behavoir is to drive the bigger birds away from their young in their nests but Wikipedia says nothing on the subject so it might just be that they are really tough, or irritable, or short-sighted.
Update 28/3/2017: You usually only hear these birds at dawn but I’ve had one in the backyard all week presumably calling for a mate? It’s a great sound, click the link below to listen.
Last Observed: June 2016 – Koh Chang Last Observed By: Suthanai Krupanich, Dave Hinchliffe
The black-naped tern is a seabird found in tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Ocean.
Its characteristic black nape is band of black colour that runs from it’s eyes round the back of its head like some sort of cheap disguise. the rest of the bird is pale greay and white in colour and they are about 30cm in length.
Look out for them wheeling around the Koh Chang ferries.
Last Observed: 2014 – Koh Chang
Last Observed By: David Vinot
The house sparrow is almost a victim of its own success. They are so common that you hardly notice them. This is because they are the world’s most widely distrubuted wild bird.
That’s because they are extremely at home in human habitations, both urban and rural so as Homa Sapiens spreads so does the house sparrow.
They are a small bird with a maximum length of 16cm and weigh around 30 grammes.They feed aminly on seeds of grains and weeds, but also eat all kinds of insects, berries and pretty much whatever is around. One of nature’s true survivors.
The common bottlenose dolphin is one of the most common worldwide species of dolphin with a habitat covering temperate and tropical oceans worldwide.
Thankfully they aren’t considered a threatened species globally – but they certainly are here in teh gulf of Thailand. Sightings around Koh Chang are very rare (you’ll notice these images date back to 2010).
However dead dolphins often wash up on local beaches. The principal cause of death is drowning when they are caught up in fishing nets and are unable to surface to breathe. there are supposed to be strict fishing restrictions within the waters of the Koh Chang Marine National Park. And outside these waters Thailand faces significant challenges to tackle illegal and unsustainable fishing. Sadly these dolphins are often the victims of these fishing practises.
Which is a shame because they are marvellous creatures; highly intelligent group-dwelling mammals with language and extremely complex social interaction. Their brains are bigger than ours, which explains a lot.
Thanks everyone – the animals just keep on coming. There’s 165 individual animal pages on the site now and maybe another 50-70 waiting for me to get around to putting on. It’ll happen but please bear with me if your beast hasn’t appeared yet – it will! Doing this whole exercise just reinforces what a […]
Right, we’re making good progress! Most of our animal backlog has now been cleared and we now have 82 different Koh Chang animal species on the site. Also, importantly, we’ve added a page with lots of animal identification sites and resources. We particularly need some undersea assistance so all you divers please get snapping and […]
Last Observed: January 2016, Koh Chang Observed By: Natpha Kotkangplu
Kuhl’s flying gecko is a member of the gecko family that has special adaptations that enable it glide through the air for short distances. These include webbed feet, flaps of skin on either side of its body and a flattened tail.
This gliding ability is obviously an excellent defensive tool as well as being pretty handy when you want to get to the next tree.
They have a greeny brown and tan patterned body that offers superb camouflage in their native arboreal environment.
Last Observed: February 2016 – Koh Chang Last Observed By: Tijl Adriaen
The brown-throated sunbird is a species of Nectariniidae bird found in Southeast Asia. Like their South American counterparts the hummingbirds these small birds feed primarily on nectar and they have adapted an extremely versatile flying style that allows them to almost hover as they feed on a plant’s nectar.
They are a small bird with a maximum length of 14cm and have a yellow breast and underside and an iridescent blue/black head, body and wings.
They have a loud and harsh call and feed on crabs, insects, worms, snails and that kind of stuff.
Last Observed: March 2016, Koh Chang
