ALL-WILD...

Empty Nest

2012-06-23T15:42:00.000+08:00

On 21st June, the nest was emptied after the typhoon. I searched around the NCKU campus with the hope to see the fledglings and adults again, but I didn't find any of them. However. I was lucky to find this precious adult feather of the Malayan Night Heron under one of the empty nests.

From my weekly observations, the complete nesting period from hatchling to fledgling is about 4 to 5 weeks.

Click HERE to read my previous report about the hatchings/fledglings of the Malayan Night Heron.

Happy Birding. Keep Watching, Keep Listening and Keep Exploring.

Two Chicks Left the Nest

2012-06-15T09:00:00.000+08:00

On 15 June, I went back again to check the nest. I noticed two chicks had left the nest but prefer to perch on the nearby branches, and one chick still resided inside the nest. Besides that, the white feathers on their head were also less noticeable. At this moment, only one adult was still around and actively foraging on the nearby ground, the feeding session has also less frequent.

Click HERE to read the previous report about the hatchings of the Malayan Night Heron.

Happy Birding. Keep Watching, Keep Listening and Keep Exploring.

Parents Left the Nest

2012-06-10T09:00:00.000+08:00

On 10 June, I went back to observe the nest, I noticed the parents had left the nest and were foraging on the nearby ground, but occasionally one of them would fly back to the nest to feed the chicks.

All three chicks had grown stronger and bigger with the distinguishable white feathers on their head. I also noticed one of the chicks had started leaving the nest and perched on the nearby branch, the other two chicks still resided inside the nest.

Click HERE to read the previous report about the hatchlings of the Malayan Night Heron.

Happy Birding. Keep Watching, Keep Listening and Keep Exploring.

Three Chicks Survived

2012-06-04T02:11:00.000+08:00

On 2nd of June, I noticed only three chicks survived. The last date I saw the fourth chick was on 27 May.

They were provoked by the squirrel.

Click HERE to view the fourth chick which I photographed before 27 May.

So, will all these three chicks survive?

Happy Birding. Keep Watching, Keep Listening and Keep Exploring.

Malayan Night Heron Hatchlings

2012-05-28T23:29:00.000+08:00

After about a week of rainy days, I went back to check the nest on 21-May. Surprisingly, I saw four hatchlings on the nest. I believe two hatched on mother's day (click HERE to view the hatched egg shells), and another two hatched after mother's day.

The hatchlings look healthy and strong, they were aggressively competing with their siblings and begging for food from their parents. Both parents are very experience in parenting, they take turn to feed and care their chicks, they protect their vulnerable chicks by covering them with their body and wings after every feeding session.

Feeding session, so can you find all four hatchlings in the picture?

Will all these four chicks survive? let's wait patiently for the next update.

Happy Birding. Keep Watching, Keep Listening and Keep Exploring.

Malayan Night Herons hatched on Mother's Day

2012-05-15T21:36:00.000+08:00

Found these two hatched egg shells of the Malayan Night Heron on Mother's Day. Glad to see these two new born lives arrived to this wonderful world, successfully.

Length is ~3.5cm, Width is ~3.5cm,
the complete egg is approximated as 5x3.5cm.

Keep Watching, Keep Listening, and Keep Exploring.

Immature Malayan Night Herons at NCKU

2011-05-16T16:24:00.019+08:00

The highest number of Malayan Night Herons at NCKU that I have counted in the month of May on a single day was eight birds, three adults and five immatures.

Here in my blog, I would like to share some of my digiscoped pictures with their beautiful immatured plumage (click on the picture for the enlarged view).

Immature with more brownish plumage

Beautiful immatured crest with black and white spot

Another immature with lesser brownish plumage

Ha ha, this one is smart, actually is peeping at me.

More, click HERE to view the adult Malayan Night Herons in NCKU.
and click HERE to listen to their call which was recorded at night in NCKU.

Happy Birding.
Boon Eu.

Recorded Call of the Malayan Night-heron

2011-03-28T21:55:00.021+08:00

Today, at around 8.00 pm, I was lucky to hear and to record the call of the Malayan Night-heron at NCKU (National Cheng Kung University) in Tainan, Taiwan. The call is loud, continuous for about 15 seconds, the interval for each repeated call is approximately 30 seconds.

This is my first recorded Malayan Night-heron's call. Let's plug in the earphone, click on the play button and enjoy listening to the call.

Warning: this recorded call is for identification purpose only, do not use this as a bird call playback. Click HERE to learn more.

Click HERE to read about the Malayan Night Herons in NCKU.

28-3-2011.
Boon Eu

A Pair of Malayan Night Heron at NCKU. Part-2.

2011-03-09T20:31:00.031+08:00

This morning, I went back to the place where I saw a pair of Malayan Night Heron (Gorsachius melanolophus, 黑冠麻鷺) at NCKU (National Cheng Kung University) in Tainan, Taiwan. It was my first experience seeing a pair of Malayan Night Heron perched on a mango tree.

From my observation, I would like to confirm that these two Malayan Night Herons are the breeding pair, because both were roosted side by side on the same branch. I believe the male has bluish lores (the space between the eye and bill) and striking plumage as compared to the female.

The front view

The rear view, the male is bigger in size.

Handsome male with striking plumage and bluish lores (left), female with less striking plumage and grayish lores (right).

Click HERE to read the part-1 of this blog.

Or click HERE to view the immature Malayan Night Herons at NCKU.

Boon Eu, 9-March-2011, Tainan, Taiwan.

A Pair of Malayan Night Heron at NCKU

2011-03-08T01:42:00.039+08:00

Today, I was so excited to see a pair of Malayan Night Heron at NCKU (National Cheng Kung University) in Tainan, Taiwan. It was my first experience of seeing a pair of Malayan Night Heron feeding on the same ground and territory.

But, I have a problem to distinguish the male and the female, I can't even find a good and detailed reference about the differences. However, I noticed one of the birds has very bright blue lores (the space between the eye and bill) and striking plumage as compared to the another one. I strongly believe that the one with the brighter color on the lores and striking plumage is the male, while the other one with the pale lores and plumage must be the female.

or could it be an adult with the striking lores and the immature with pale lores? I believe these birds are territorial birds, then why both can feed on the same ground if they are not a breeding pair?

Click HERE to view the Part-2 of this blog.
and click HERE to listen to their call which was recorded at night at NCKU.

View my other blogs about the Malayan Night Heron:
Malayan Night Herons in northern part of Taiwan
Juvenile Malayan Night Heron spotted in Singapore Botanic Gardens

Boon Eu, 7-March-2011, Tainan, Taiwan.

Nature's Gem: The Banded Bay Cuckoo

2010-07-31T13:17:00.008+08:00

I'm delighted to see one of my digiscoped Banded Bay Cuckoo pictures is currently published in MNS (Malaysian Nature Society) newsletter, August 2010.

Taiwan's Malayan Night Herons

2009-12-21T18:57:00.079+08:00

Malayan Night Heron (Gorsachius melanolophus) is a non-endemic lifer for me during my birding trip in Taiwan. This bird is easy to see in Taiwan, it can easily be found in the gardens or parks in Taipei city. Before viewing their pictures, let's study this beautiful bird closer.

Let's start with the head, it has a pair of beautiful eyes, strong bill, and crest.

now look at the crest, a stylish hair style, anyone is interested to have this cutting?

Let's see the wing, wow.. marvelous pattern, I wish I could have that pair of wings and fly away to Taiwan again, perhaps.

now, let's take a look of the front, wow.. luxury coat...

and with a pair of sexy legs...
Enough, cannot show any further, that will be private.

Now, let's take a look at the beautiful pictures of Malayan Night Heron that I sighted in Taiwan. Places where I spotted and digiscoped the Malayan Night Heron are shown as follows:

Buddhist temple, Puli, Nantou county, 11-Nov-2009 :

Taipei Botanic Gardens, Taipei city, 14-Nov-2009:

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Park, Taipei city, 14-Nov-2009:

Yangmingshan Park, Taipei county, 16-Nov-2009. It was dark at 5pm local time, and higher ISO 400 was used:

Da'an Park in Taipei city, 23-Nov-2009:

This picture is to show the feeding behavior of the Malayan Night Heron. It is a secretive and nocturnal or crepuscular bird, it likes foraging food during dusk and dawn, usually in the dark or shady areas in the parks, gardens or open field. Its main diets are ground worm, insects, small reptiles and amphibians.

I noticed that it has a pair of sharp eyes or a very sensitive bill for sensing the ground worm, the catch was very sharp and accurate. This picture was taken at Yangmingshan Park at 5pm local time. It was dark but with the dim light from the street lamp, was digiscoped with ISO 400 and lower shutter speed. The bird can still sense and see the big ground worm, and managed to pull it out from the ground and consumed it. Amazing!

I wonder why this species is also known as Malaysian Night Heron, even though it is a rare migrant and also not an endemic species of Malaysia.

Do you think it should be renamed as Taiwanese Night Heron, or simply Malayan Night Heron? names that are more appropriate than Malaysian Night Heron, otherwise it is very misleading.

Let me know what is your thought about the naming of this species? please comment.

What is Night Heron?

There are two generas of Night Heron: the Gorsachius and Nycticorax. In Chinese, they are named differently, the Gorsachius as Yan 鳽 or Malu 麻鹭, and Nycticorax as Yelu 夜鹭. The Malayan Night Heron is grouped in the genus Gorsachius, together with the Japanese Night Heron and White-eared Night Heron (or Hainanese Night Heron). The Malayan Night Heron is known as Heiguan Yan 黑冠鳽 in China and as Heiguan Malu 黑冠麻鹭 in Taiwan.