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Courtship of Dollarbirds 2: What the eyes cannot see

on 14th May 2006

An earlier posting by Meng and Melinda Chan describes the courtship and mating of the Dollarbirds with images to match. Here, another photographer, Allan Teo, has this fascinating story to tell, with photographic evidence as well. Allen describes how he detected the mating of these birds while a pair was spiraling downwards. Without the aid of his camera, he would have thought that the birde were in play or in a fight. Thus he titles his account, “What the eyes cannot see” to stress the usefulness of the camera in bird behaviour study:

“The human eye can only catch motion to a certain extent. We need the help of cameras to see what is actually happening. To the naked eye, a pair of Dollarbirds seems to be falling off a tree branch and rotating on the way down like leaves. You may think they are fighting but look closer with the camera and you will find out something very different.

“One bird grabs the other by the neck as they rotate. They then turn around and face outwards with their backsides attached and mate.

“When they were near the ground, I am guessing less then 2 metres, they flew apart before they hit the ground.

“The action takes place in split seconds and the camera can capture it. Photography provides another valuable insight into intelligent animal behaviour.”

How true, Allan, how true! I have always believe that images help provide quality bird watching. You can always examine the images at your leisure and detect details that you miss when viewing with the binoculars. We are happy to see that traditional birders are now taking up photography, learning digiscoping and even taking up videoscoping. In fact Ashley Ng, our local digiscoping guru and founder of “pigeon-holes”, recently gave a talk on digiscoping to the Nature Society (Singapore), invited by Lim Kim Chuah on behalf of the Bird Group. YC

Thank you Allan for sharing your images (below) and your viewpoint. Top image by YC.

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

Other posts by YC Wee

One Response

  1. Wow. That is a very speedy act of copulation.

    And I really have to give credit to all the brillianr photographers out there capturing the beauty of our birds and their numerous intriguing and interesting behaviours.

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