This bird, an escapee, has been documented as early as 2008 LINK. It is well sought after as a cage bird, especially the male with his long narrow tail feathers.

During courtship, the male sings nearly all day within a designated display area, chasing other males away. His display includes flying from tree to tree, flopping his tail feathers, especially when females arrive. Even when other species like sunbirds or shrikes are present, he exhibits his display.

In the images shown here, the male flies at a female on a perch, bounces over her in flight and waving his tail feathers. He may hovers in front or flies around her, with wings fluttering and closing alternately. Such displays may last for as long as five minutes.

Should the female be attracted to him, she may follow him to a feeding area where the pair feeds together. There, copulation may take place.

“When I heard that an east-west line was going through the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, I thought it was a joke but soon came to realise that it was turning into reality when I found out that soil investigation was going to be carried out in October this year. This shocked me as I never thought that the government would place an MRT track through this incredible nature reserve. So now I am taking a stand against this action.

“I have had many beautiful experiences in MacRitchie and that will not change. Every New Year, MacRitchie is a hotspot for New Year’s Day morning bird-watching where we get a range of different species of animals. We get to see 50 to 70 species of birds, 5 to 8 reptiles, a few mammals and amphibians. These animals are essential for the survival of the MacRitchie forest. If the government continues this process of running an MRT line through this reserve, all these species will decline drastically or go extinct.

“On other occasions such as a big day or surveys of the area, we sit on the Juletong Tower LINK for 6 hours and often find some lifers that I never thought that I would see, like the Lesser (Chloropsis cyanopogon) and Greater Green Leafbirds (Chloropsis sonnerati). When I go on walks with my father, Subaraj Rajathurai, we often see a variety of animals such as the Grey-headed Fish-Eagle (Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus), Changeable Hawk-eagle (Nisaetus linmaeetus), Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot (Loriculus galgulus) (above left), Blue-rumped Parrot (Psittinus cyanurus) and Short-tailed Babbler (Malacocincla malaccensis). Others, like the Common Treeshrew (Tupaia glis), Malayan Colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) (below), Black-bearded Flying Dragon (Draco melanopogon) (above right), Twin-Barred Tree Snake (Chrysopelea pelias) and Oriental Whip Snake (Ahaetulla prasina) are also seen.

“MacRitchie has a diverse variety of animals and to see it being destroyed for the convenience of humans is a real tragedy. Is a few minutes of getting to work faster really more important than the survival of many species of animals?

“There are still animals that I want to see such as the Sunda Pangolin (Manis javanica) and the Lesser Mouse Deer (Tragulus kanchil).

“If this MRT line manages to go through, then the government has only themselves to blame for the destruction, of what must be, the greatest eco-system in Singapore.”

Saker Subaraj, 12 years old
Singapore
24th May 2013

“What sets Brown Barbets (Calorhamphus fuliginosus) in the genera of Barbets (Megalaiminae) apart from their cousins is that in taxonomic sense, they are free standing, belonging to a class of their own- ‘Calorhamphus’.

“Of smaller size as compared to their chunky big cousins, they are brown with no green plumage and also do not have rictal bristles to interestingly aid in catching flying insects. Lifestyle wise, they are the only group of barbets who live partly communal and forage in small parties.

“Known to be mainly frugivores and have a penchant for figs, they have been observed to partake of other foods.

“Lets take a look at how they dealt with their unique ways of eating and the various kinds of foods lesser known that I have managed to photograph in the past.

“Here a female parent in Borneo was seen offering a lizard to her young chick (above left). A Bornean male could not resist the nectar purple blooms of the epiphytic climber – Poikilospermum suaveolens (above right).

“An over-ripe, black berry was simply too juicy to be refused by this massive bill of a female in Peninsula Malaysia (above left).

“One could sympathise with this parenting male–woodcutter when hard, demanding times called for tough measures to break dried branches in search for wood live-in insects in Borneo (above right).

“Going on party raids has to be one of the highlights of this female especially when succulent and nutritious oil palm fruits could be freely had in private resorts (left).

“Life is never boring for these Brown Barbets as they have been observed to drum up strategic ways of obtaining and eating their foods creatively. After all birds simply eat to live.

“Do join me in PART 4 to view pictures that speak a thousand words and re-enter the world of these Brown Barbets and be amazed what these little ‘Kung- fu’ creatures are capable of…”
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Avian Writer Daisy O’Neill
Penang, Malaysia
8th May 2013
COPYRIGHT ARTICLE AND ALL IMAGES: COURTESY OF DAISY ONEILL BIRD CONSERVATION FUND

There were many birds attracted to the flowers because of their nectar – bulbuls, Crimson Sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja) (above), Orange-bellied Flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma), and in particular the Greater Green Leafbird (Chloropsis sonnerati) (below).

This Greater Green Leafbird was observed to guard this plant against other ‘intruders,’ chasing them away.

The area is an excellent spot to view the Ashy Tailorbird (Orthotomus ruficeps cineraceus). A number of pairs were around, some just starting breeding process, others feeding fledged juveniles. The adults were in full breeding plumage (above: adult male) and busy calling out Ashy Tailorbird-call 1 and and Ashy Tailorbird-call 2

The image below-left shows the less common feeding technique – “hover-snatching” animal prey from the tips of foliage (see Wells 2007). The below-right image of an adult female preening shows the yellow-brown iris (amber in males).

“The bird species used are: Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo in China and P. capillatus in Japan.

“Today, this old fishing method is used not only to attract tourists but also, in the more remote villages in China, as a simple and effective way of catching fish for one’s daily supper.

“Here is what I saw during my October 2012 visit to the Lijiang, a long river which courses through Guangxi Province in South China.

“Above: The ingredients seen is illustrative of the interrelatedness and interdependence of all things in our ecosystem. Nothing in Nature is egocentric. All together, they form our Web of Life, a global ‘live and let live’ system.

“The four cormorants are hatched from eggs, the birds are reared lovingly and trained by the owner to catch fish. They are put to work when they are ready.

“Above: The fisherman punts the bamboo raft to shallower water, not too far from the shore. A constricting rope ring is placed round the base of the bird’s long neck to prevent it from swallowing the caught fish. A selected bird is placed gently on the water. The bird dives and catches a fish.

“Above: The bird is lifted out of the water by the long bamboo pole and brought back to the raft.

“Above: The fisherman prises open the bird’s beak and gently squeezes the fish out and places it into a submerged net-bag hanging by the large basket.

“Above:: The exiting fish is swallowed head first. Unfortunately, I was not close enough to see the kind of freshwater fish found in the Lijiang. I can only say that it is darkish and very scaly. The good news is: for every seven fish caught by the cormorant, it is allowed to eat one fish! The fishing cycle continues with the selection of another trained cormorant…

“This encounter confirms a simple truth: Existence is not insular. Life is a fabric woven with many inseparable threads. The cycle of Life’s events goes on unceasingly, just like Lord Nataraja in his eternal Dance of Life and Death…”

K.F. Yap
Singapore
17th May 2013

Ong Ei Leen was the first to post the Blue-rumped Parrot (Psittinus cyanurus) eating the starfruit (Averrhoa carambola) at Singapore’s Venus Loop by Lower Peirce Reservoir in mid-May 2013. This rare resident is a wasteful eater, scattering bits and pieces of the fruit on the ground below in his effort to get at the seeds. This male’s eating behaviour (above) is very much like that of the Tanimbar Corella (Cacatua goffini) LINK. While the Tanimbar Corella removes bits and pieces of the flesh from the fruit ridges to get at the seeds, this male Blue-rumped Parrot tears away the flesh from one end of the fruit. Unfortunately Ei Leen’s video cannot be shown here LINK as there are some problems posting Facebook videos on this website.

Jeremiah Loel‘s video (above) shows the female Blue-rumped Parrot plucking the fruit before attacking it from the end.

Lena Chow‘s video on the other hand shows the male eating the fruit while still attached to the branch (above). The female on the other hand plucks the fruit before removing chunks of the flesh to get at the seeds (below).

Now that Dr Ho has replied to my rebuttal LINK, I am posting the controversy so that those interested can can read all three accounts.

Dr Ho’s reply highlights the fact that he did not dispute the following:
1. That his definition of forest is flawed.
2. That he has no basis to claim that the removal of our unprotected “forests” will lead to pollution, environmental degradation or increased release of carbon dioxide into the environment.
3. That his call for a nationwide wildlife corridor was made without taking into account the success of the current park connectors.

To quote Alan OwYong, Immediate Past-Chairman of the Nature Society’s Bird Group: “Little knowledge is dangerous” – though made in another context LINK, it applies perfectly to Dr Ho’s original article.

If anyone finds the lettering of the above letter difficult to read, please visit HERE or HERE.

The image below of a section of Bidadari by KC Tsang, cannot, even in one’s wildest imagination, be termed a forest!

Lim Seik Ni of Pontian, in the Malaysian state of Johor, spotted a pair of Black-and-red Broadbills (Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos) collecting dried leaves in an housing area on 24th April 2013. The nest was located after a 10 minutes search. It was attached to the ends of slender branches, about 3 metres up what looks like a blue mahang (Macaranga heynei) tree. The tree was growing by a busy road. The above images show the tree viewed from the road and from behind the road.

The basic structure of the nest was already constructed. It was a rounded structure made of twigs and dried plant materials with a round opening on the side (above). Both birds kept on collecting dried bamboo leaves, entering the nest to line the inside.

Two days later the nest was completed with one bird inside (above).

The next day (26th April), there was a heavy storm during the night. This damage the roof of the nest leaving the nest interior in disarray.There was no sign of the pair of Black-and-red Broadbills for the next few days. They had abandoned the damaged nest.

“On 11th January 2013, I visited the tip of Farewell Spit, South Island, New Zealand to admire a colony of Australasian Gannets (Morus serrator, Maori name: Takapu) established on a sandy and windy location (above).

“There was heavy air traffic at this site, as birds frequently landed and took off, just like a busy international airport (above).

“Within this colony, a number of bonded pairs were already prominent. Whenever one partner returns to reunite with its other half, I could detect a sense of anticipation and acknowledgement between them (above).

Bonding between pairs is regularly reinforced through a diversity of displays and gestures. Such affectionate behaviour includes simultaneous raising and waving of their heads (above).

Sightings of gannets returning with clumps of seaweed (for nesting material) in their bills provided indications to the onset of breeding activity in this colony.

A brief video clip of the gannet colony may be previewed above.”

Dr. Leong Tzi Ming
Singapore
17th February 2013