Search

Green Broadbill – calls

on 26th October 2017
Green Broadbill, male
Green Broadbill, male

“Green Broadbills (Calyptomena viridis viridis) are common at Kubah National Park and local bird watcher and guide, Yeo Siew Teck, helped me identify their calls. A number of birds were calling out for long periods of time in the very early morning, most likely males. We saw one male but suspect a female was also present with more males in the vicinity (from calls). Lighting was very low at 6.50am and I used a very high ISO to try and image these fascinating birds (above, below).

Green Broadbill, male
Green Broadbill, male

“I recorded the calls but processing the audio recording has been tough as the calls are soft and there are loud insect calls, frogs and other birds with the background jungle hum. Below is a heavily edited and amplified recording of the common call they make (below: step up the volume to listen)…

“…with a sonogram and waveform shown below.

Sonogran and waveform of Green Broadbill.
Sonogran and waveform of Green Broadbill.

“Wells (2007) reports ‘the furthest carrying call is the bubble-trill, a brief mellow moo followed by an up-inflected rattle, with a purring quality: oo-turrr, proven to be given by males‘. Davison (1999) describes them as ‘an accelerating and falling series of notes, as though a small wooden ball were dropped onto a table‘. I find this a very apt description. Bruce (2017) says they are ‘a soft, bubbling trill, starting with quieter note, that increases in tempo and has upward inflection, toi, toi-oi-oi-oi-oick; …. like sound of a stone bouncing on glass..‘.

“We also heard the low ‘moaning’ calls of a long drawn out whistle but I could not tease these out of the ‘busy’ recordings.”

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
12th September 2017

Location: Kubah National Park, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia
Habitat: Trail through primary forest

References: 
1.
Bruce, M.D. (2017). Green Broadbill (Calyptomena viridis). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie,
2. D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. 
3. Davison G.W.H. (1999) The Birds of Borneo by B. E. Smythies (4th edition). Natural History Publication, Kota Kinabalu
4. Wells, D.R. (2007) The birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula: Vol. 2 (Passarines). Christopher Helm, London.
 

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

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories
Archives

Overall visits (since 2005)

Live visitors
676
9355
Visitors Today
51621310
Total
Visitors

Clustrmaps (since 2016)