“The female Copper-throated Sunbird (Nectarinia calcostetha) is commonly seen at Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve during nest-building season, busy harvesting and ferrying nesting material to her nest (above). This one made at least a dozen trips to a Funnel-web/Tent Spider’s (Beccari’s Tent Spider? LINK web during the 15mins I was watching her, tugging at the web to pull off small bits which she transported to her nearby nest 10m away.
“On the left is... Read More
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The Birds of Singapore – an online book
In May 1943, GC Madoc published “An Introduction to Malayan Birds.” He wrote his manuscript in Singapore’s Changi Prison where he was interned when the country fell into the...
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Videocam: A powerful tool for studying birds
1. Collecting birds: In the 19th century the equipment needed to study birds was the gun. Another skill necessary was a good stuffing technique in order to preserve the specimens....
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Documenting bird calls and songs
Many local birdwatchers are able to recognise the birds behind the songs. However, interest in most cases ends there except for a few who make basic recordings. Erik Mobrand...
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Should attempts be made to tame wild birds?
The first part of the series by aviculturist Lee Chiu San deals with whether birds can be tamed and whether they will remain tamed. The second part looks at whether it is...
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Postings your observations and images
Why should you post your observations and images? Southeast Asian birds are poorly studied in terms of behaviour and ecology. By posting your observations (and this include...
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Nature Society: The struggle for Singapore’s nature areas
The above paper has just been published. Nature in Singapore is a peer-reviewed, online journal that publishes articles on the flora and fauna (e.g., biology, botany, zoology,...
Copper-throated Sunbird nest-building
“The female Copper-throated Sunbird (Nectarinia calcostetha) is commonly seen at Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve during nest-building season, busy harvesting and ferrying nesting material to her nest (above). This one made at least a dozen trips to a Funnel-web/Tent Spider’s (Beccari’s Tent Spider? LINK web during the 15mins I was watching her, tugging at the web to pull off small bits which she transported to her nearby nest 10m away.
“On the left is... Read More
Nest building by a pair of Black-and-red Broadbills
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... Read More
Common Tailorbird’s Nest
[Common Tailorbird's nest]
“Tailorbirds get their name from the way their nests are constructed. Nests are built with leaves that are pierced and stitched together with spider’s web or plant fibre. The leaves are pulled together and stitched to form sort of a cradle where grass or other materials are placed within to construct the actual nest.
[Common Tailorbird]
“It was end 2012, when I stumbled upon a Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) in the... Read More
Pied Triller – nest building
“I was at a paediatric head of departments meeting down south at a hotel with good grounds, lots of trees. Two of my colleagues asked me to introduce them to bird watching, with a view to get their children out of the house. We only had the late evenings to watch but they were very fortunate and we saw close to 20 species and 4 different nesting birds.
“I had spotted this pair of Pied Trillers (Lalage nigra striga) nesting the day before and we watched from some... Read More
Plant-Bird relationship: 16. Addendum – Plasticaceae
All the plant families have now been dealt with in a total of 15 posts, the links of which are as follows: 1. Need for a Catalogue LINK; 2. Moraceae LINK; 3. Euphorbiaceae LINK; 4. Poaceae LINK; 5. Fabaceae LINK; 6. Palmae LINK; 7. Loranthaceae LINK; 8. Meliaceae LINK; 9. Myrtaceae LINK, 10. Anacardiaceae, Annonaceae and Apocynaceae LINK; 11. Non-flowering plants LINK; 12. Agavaceae, Amaranthaceae, Araceae, Araliaceae and Avicenniaceae LINK; 13. Bignoniaceae, Bombacaceae... Read More
BLUE-BEARDED BEE-EATER: NEST-HOLE EXCAVATION & FEEDING
“In October 2012, a pair of Blue-bearded Bee-eaters (Nyctyornis athertoni) was observed in a forested area in Thailand (above).
“They had already begun excavation works for a nest-hole, which was situated on a steep earth bank surrounding a shaded, secluded pond (above).
“During the day, each of the partners would take turns to enter the nest cavity and progressively scrape away the soft soil with their feet (below). Each partner would spend between three... Read More
Plant-Bird Relationship: 11. Non-Flowering Plants
The earlier series: 1. Need for a Catalogue LINK; 2. Moraceae LINK; 3. Euphorbiaceae LINK; 4. Poaceae LINK; 5. Fabaceae LINK; 6. Palmae LINK; 7. Loranthaceae LINK; 8. Meliaceae LINK; 9. Myrtaceae LINK and 10. Anacardiaceae, Annonaceae and Apocynaceae LINK.
Non-flowering plants include algae, lichens, bryophytes and ferns.
In the following list the different species of birds that visit the plant are listed below each plant species. Details are as follows:
1. Common name of... Read More
Yellow-vented Bulbul uses a plastic bag to construct a nest
“A few years after Yellow-vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus goiavier) incorporated tissue-paper into their nest in my garden LINK, I found a nest today (I assume this cup-shaped nest is also a Yellow-vented Bulbul’s nest) which has a plastic bag as part of the design (below).
“Wonder what other artificial nesting-material these bulbuls will use next!”
Lena Chow
Singapore
13th October... Read More
Oriental Magpie-robin – odd nesting site
“Odd nest that I spotted of an Oriental Magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis musicus). Built on top of a [series of] House (=Pacific) Swallow (Hirundo tahitica) nests. Had at least one juvenile within. Was feeding juvenile when I spotted the location which was just inside the entry to an underground car park. The adult was sharp and spotted me watching. It did not return until I was quite far away.”
Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh City, Perak, Malaysia
28th July... Read More
Yellow Bittern foraging
“Was back at this large area that has many ex-mining pools converted into fish farming in a limestone hill environment. Fairly quiet and ‘rural’ with wetlands-like conditions developing in some of the large pools. In this habitat, over the past 3 decades, Yellow Bitterns (Ixobrychus sinensis) have slowly increased in volume while Cinnamon Bitterns (I. cinnamomeus), previously common, have decreased.
“Saw three Yellow Bitterns in a small reed patch... Read More
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