WHERE I LIVE, a suburban residential estate in Kuala Lumpur (the capital city of Malaysia), we can see birds all year round. They are mostly common birds like the sparrow, pigeon, myna and crow which have adapted to living close to human habitation and to the suburban environment. In fact, birds like the pigeon depend on "handouts" from humans who feed them with leftover rice and scraps of food.
 There are also visitors to suburban gardens or parks, like the magpie robin, oriole and starling. On rare occasions, one may also catch sight of kingfishers which are forest dwellers. All these birds are easy enough to photograph with an adequately long lens on your camera.
  You won't find Cattle Egrets (photo above) in the city or suburban environment but they do provide a common yet delightful sight in some rural areas, especially in rice-growing regions where the water buffalo is still being used to pull the plough in padi fields.
 The Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) (see photo) is not a common bird. It is forest dweller which you won't see in the city or suburban environment, but I got the opportunity to photograph this bird while holidaying with some family members at a resort on Pangkor Island a few years ago. Flocks of this large bird would descend every morning to "steal" the unguarded breakfast of the resort guests.