It's all started with a boat-trip to the Kilim mangrove area at the northeast tip of Langkawi.

The large mangrove forest covers about 1,309ha, including the river banks up to the estuary. It is behind Tanjung Rhu beach, set among the sheer stone outcroppings of this beautiful island.

The weather was warm, blue-skyed and sunny. The scenery was spectacular. The boat entered a small cove and then circled the cove while revving its noisy engine. Within minutes, you saw them. Lots of them. 20 to 30 sea-eagles circling the beautiful sky - in a magnificent dance.

Oh WOW!.... so amazing!

Your guide began tossing some chicken entrails on a square wooden pontoon. And you was wondering at the beginning why the heck did the boatman bring a bagful of chicken skin and entrails...

He moved the boat a little. The hovering eagles began screeching and swooping down across the water to grab up the food.

They tried to outwit each other in the competition for the chicken snacks.

But some larger eagles just perched on the mangrove trees - watching quitely with their sharp eyes. They waited for the right time to move into the action and joined the others. The eagles continued screeching and feeding until all the chicken pieces were gone.

Then, they too were gone. You magic spell was finally uncasted.

The revving of boat engines is some sort of a lunch bell for the eagles. It seems that the eagles associate boat engines with fishermen - who often discard small fish caught in their nets, which the eagles easily catch.

The Kilim mangrove area has been the home of eagles (Brahminy Kite Eagle and White Bellied Sea Eagle) for the past 40 years.

The actual eagle-feeding takes place near the river estuary, Sungai Banjar. The river is partially protected from the strong wind blowing from the open sea by the islands of Pulau Anak Kilim and Pulau Tanggok and the coastal mangrove swamps.

It is a 10 minute boat-ride from the Kilim River Jetty.

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Eagle-Feeding is part of a tour call " Mangrove Tour" or "Langkawi River Safari".

It starts around 8.30am and is a half-day tour.

You get to visit a fish farm and remote fishing villages, see eagle-feeding, explore caves, enjoy a picnic at a remote beach and have great lunch at the Barn Thai (a nice restaurant in the mangrove area).

Yes.. there is a nice restaurant in the secluded mangrove forest...talk about location..hmm..

You can also learn about the mangrove ecological system and its importance to this island.

The mangrove trees stop the 26 December 2004 tsunami from destroying Langkawi. How?
Click here to learn more.

For the best time to watch eagle-feeding, avoid the last quarter of the year until March as breeding and nesting occur during that period.

The eagle population in Kilim has grown over the years. The estimated number now is around 450 wild eagles.

These majestic birds have grown used to humans and boats. The sounds of engines and humans no longer frightened them.

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Local folklore has it that Langkawi derived its name from the eagle or "helang" as it is known in the Malay language. "Lang" for short and in old Malay, "kawi" denotes reddish brown. Thus, Langkawi simply means reddish brown eagle.

The Brahminy Kite Eagle is the reddish brown eagle, and the proud symbol of Langkawi.

You can see a gigantic statue of the eagle at the Dataran Lang (Eagle Square).