Bornean forktail explained

The Bornean forktail (Enicurus borneensis) is a small, black and white bird, with a long and deeply forked tail, in the Old World flycatcher family. It is endemic to the Southeast Asian island of Borneo, where it occupies streamside habitats in montane primary forest.^[1]

Taxonomy

It is closely related to the very similar white-crowned forktail (Enicurus leschenaulti) of which it is sometimes considered a subspecies,^[2] and from which it was split because of:^[3]

• a recognizably different type of mitochondrial DNA
• the reduced extent of the white forehead shield, which does not cover the crown
• its larger size and longer tail with four, rather than five, white tail patches
• different calls
• different habitat, with the Bornean forktail replacing the lowland dwelling white-crowned forktail in the mountains and in submontane areas.

References

• Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v12.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2

Notes and References

1. Book: Phillipps' Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo . Phillipps, Quentin . Phillipps, Karen . 2011 . John Beaufoy Publishing . Oxford, UK . 978-1-906780-56-2 .
2. Web site: Bornean Forktail . 2013-11-16 . Species factsheet . BirdLife International . 2013 .
3. Moyle, Robert G. . Schilthuizen, Menno . Rahman, Mustafa A. . Sheldon, Frederick H. . 2005 . Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the white-crowned forktail Enicurus leschenaulti in Borneo . Journal of Avian Biology. 36 . 2 . 96–101 . 10.1111/j.0908-8857.2005.03510.x.