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Black-naped Oriole’s courtship

on 24th January 2012

“Some time in March 2008, there was a post by Dr Redzlan Abdul Rahman about the courtship behaviour of Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis) LINK. At the end, he commented “Have birders from Malaysia and Singapore published any articles on the courtship behaviour of our local species of oriole? Or made any observations? If so, can you please share?”

“While I am far from being a birder, but rather a casual bird observer, I have witnessed many such activities in my condo, occurring usually in the morning. One realises it’s happening when one hears the incessant melodious calls (a sample sound clip recorded in October last year attached HERE… Orioles [SunChongHong] They fly from tree to tree, either following or chasing one another. During this period they are quite oblivious to my presence, sometimes flying low and near me. But once they ended up in a tree, it would be difficult to continue observing them.

“On the 27th April this year, I was fortunate to witness another episode, this time centering around a dwarf coconut tree in the swimming pool area. The view was clear with not much obstructions from the foliage. My edited video above could show the dominant male approached the challenger from a higher perch, stood in a posture that made it more upright and taller, with the head tilted downwards and tail feathers spread as it vocalised. Seeing that the challenged one, which also had it tail feathers spread, refused to budge, it then hopped sideways towards the latter forcing it to fly away (22″ to 36″ and repeated @1′ 04″ to 1′ 10”).

“A short note on the editing of the video footage. The sound track was extracted by Videolan Player, a free media player. It was then digitally processed to remove unwanted noises and then amplified by Audacity, a free digital audio editor. The processed audio was then merged with the video track using OpenShot, a Linux-based open source video editor . The first 4 sec of the clip was played in reverse, with the audio played normally.”

Sun Chong Hong
Singapore
26th December 2011

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.

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