Western or Eastern Osprey? Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo (2 Viewers)

[dixonlau]

Location: Sibu (lowland), Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
Date: 16-Dec-2021

Can someone help me ID if this is Western (Pandion haliaetus) or Eastern (Pandion Cristatus). All photos were same bird. It is unusual to see an osprey here as there are no coastal anywhere within 200-300km away. This one was circling above local lake garden and saw it made a single dive attempt but left empty handed. I tried checking it online but often found contradict photos. Thanks.

 

[MJB]

Location: Sibu (lowland), Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
Date: 16-Dec-2021

Can someone help me ID if this is Western (Pandion haliaetus) or Eastern (Pandion Cristatus). All photos were same bird. It is unusual to see an osprey here as there are no coastal anywhere within 200-300km away. This one was circling above local lake garden and saw it made a single dive attempt but left empty handed. I tried checking it online but often found contradict photos. Thanks.

View attachment 1420106 View attachment 1420107 View attachment 1420108 View attachment 1420110 View attachment 1420109

The nominate occurs in the Sundas (from IOC11.2), the other sspp of Western Osprey, carolinensis and ridgwayi being New World taxa. That said, monotypic Eastern Osprey occurs Australasia to Sulawesi, which is only 135km from Indonesian Borneo, but at least 900km from Sibu. Any Osprey will hunt fish in fresh water and so the lack of a coastal connection isn't a concern. I've seen an Osprey deep in the Temburong, Brunei. However, it will need a knowledgeable ID expert to pontificate on the bird in your photos.

There may be further splits among the Ospreys. Monti et al 2015 found 4 separate lineages: haliaetus, cristatus, (carolinensis +ridgwayi) and a so far unidentified taxon in China! The ground-nesting Red Sea population has not been examined.
MJB
Monti, F, O Duriez, V Arnal, J-M Dominici, A Sforzi, L Fusani, D Grémillet and C Montgelard. 2015.Being cosmopolitan: evolutionary history and phylogeography of a specialized raptor, the Osprey Pandion haliaetus. BMC Evol. Biol. 15: 255. doi 10.1186/s12862-015-0535-6

 

[Butty]

Lump and be done.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Lump and be done.

You should move to the US. We never split 'em.

 

[James Eaton]

It's haliaetus (Western) - thick eye stripe and generally a very dark head, cristatus is a predominately white head - it also has yet to be found on Borneo, though resident as close as Sulawesi and Javan sea islands.

James

 

[KC Foggin]

Looks pretty good for Googles Western Osprey.

 

[dixonlau]

Looks pretty good for Googles Western Osprey.

Thanks KC.

It's haliaetus (Western) - thick eye stripe and generally a very dark head, cristatus is a predominately white head - it also has yet to be found on Borneo, though resident as close as Sulawesi and Javan sea islands.

James

Awesome James. Thanks for clarification.