An adult Jungle Myna (Acridotheresfuscus torquatus) and a non-breeding Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis coromandus) were seen with a juvenile water buffalo by Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS on 29th December 2009 (above). The location was around the ex-mining pools in Gua Tempurung, Gopeng, Perak, Malaysia.

These birds followed the water buffalo as the latter moved through low vegetation, disturbing insects along the way. The birds then pounced on the exposed insects. The myna was also observed inspecting the ear, nose and head of the buffalo, apparently searching for insects (left).

Cattle egret is so-called because of its association with cattle. An earlier post shows a similar association between a Javan Myna (Acridotheres javanicus) and a foraging pig.

In Singapore, Javan Mynas are commonly seen around grasscutters. They also follow rubbish trucks.

“I had a brief encounter with what I suspect to be a Chinese Egret (Egretta eulophotes), listed as globally threatened and an uncommon winter visitor in Singapore. As I’m just a leisure photographer and seeing this species for the first time, would appreciate verification and confirmation from the experts.

“It was low tide last Sunday morning. I was at an exposed stretch of mudflat along the coast, indulging in my hobby of avian photography. There were several birds foraging in the distance; mostly Little Egrets (E. garzetta) and a Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea). Engrossed in capturing images of the Grey Heron, which was having some difficulties swallowing a huge fish, I did not pay much attention to a solitary bird which had suddenly appeared in my camera’s view finder. I presumed that it was one of the Little Egrets, which were rather common around the area.

“After observing the heron finishing off its catch successfully, I became aware that the bird, which had earlier blocked my view, as it was between the heron and me, was definitely not a Little Egret. Its legs were yellowish-green in colour while the Little should be black. Its upper mandible was mostly rust colour and its lower mandible mostly yellow for about two-third of its length. The Little’s mandibles should be black.

“A crest was also observed, albeit not all the time, swaying occasionally when caught in the gentle breeze. The difference between the egrets became more apparent when one Little flew above the suspected Chinese and landed nearby (above left). The Chinese reacted by raising and displaying its prominent crest. Images of the two egrets captured together showed the two nape plumes of the Little Egret being less conspicuous than the prominent ‘headdress’ worn on the head of the Chinese Egret (above right).

“Shortly after, another Little walked past the suspected Chinese. This provided an opportunity to compare sizes of the egrets. Even though its distance was further from the camera, the suspected Chinese Egret looked larger than the Little Egret. A brief display of plume feathers from the Chinese occurred as the birds walked nonchalantly passed each other.

“The encounter lasted only a brief 10 minutes with the suspected Chinese taking off and flying away.”

Kwong Wai Chong
Singapore
27th January 2010

An earlier report by Johnny Wee describes the Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) eating guava fruits (Psidium guajava) by picking pieces off the attached fruits and swallowing them. On the other hand, Tan Teo Seng observed the hornbill in his farm in Johor, Malaysia, picking ripe guave fruits, mandibulating them before swallowing. These are probably smaller fruits and softer, probably in an advanced ripening stage, thus soft.

In the case of the rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum), Marcus Ng reports the Oriental Pied Hornbill swallowing the fruits whole. Johnny Wee, on the other hand, observed the hornbill picking up the fruit and attempting to break the skin with the tip of its bill but invariably fails as the fruit slipped away (above).

Image by Johnny Wee.

Chris Lee a.k.a. chrisle023 was at Singapore’s West Coast Park sometime in January 2010 when he saw an Oriental Honey-buzzard (Pernis ptilorhyncus) around the car park. The raptor was flying around, moving from tree to tree (above). It was relatively close by and Chris could not resist photographing it.

Imagine his surprise when he processed his images and found that the raptor was partially blind (left). The right eye was damaged but the injury had healed.

Apparently the Oriental Honey-buzzard was not totally disadvantaged by the damaged right eye. The bird was actively flying and foraging. However, with only one good eye, it would not be able to function as effectively as when both eyes are in good condition.

This post is a cooperative effort between NaturePixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.

“Was fortunately on leave yesterday. Had just come back at lunch time from a walk in a forest reserve when I received a frantic call from three home-schooled young teenagers (one of the perks of being a paediatrician is a lot of contact with children of all ages). Daniel, Shobhana and Matthew wanted me to come right over to their home as a large “snowy white” owl had landed in their garden. These three kids had recently received a copy of my book on garden birds and are, as their dad says, “budding bird watchers in the making”.

“I rushed over and there was a large owl sitting in their compound adjacent to a wall for shade. Had some difficulty with identification at first but later recognised it was a juvenile and the appearance suggested an eagle owl, then ID was easy. It was a juvenile Barred Eagle Owl (Bubo sumatranus sumatranus).

“The kids and parents were ecstatic to see such a delightful, large creature in their home. We were unsure if it was hurt or a bird escaped from captivity. We let it sleep much of the day and then feed it some chicken strips in the evening which it took with gusto. Although it was adult in size (juvenile plumage) it was not able to feed off a surface and still needed food to be brought to it (we used pieces of chicken impaled on a stick to feed it). After being fed it could fly quite well but stayed near by. The juvenile makes soft chirping sounds for food and a loud ‘clack” when upset.

“We called Sein-Chiong Chiu for help as he has nursed injured raptors as well as a juvenile Barred Eagle Owl previously. We collectively decided that although it could fly it was still not able to hunt and would starve on its own. So Chiu brought his cage and a decision was made to nurse it for another 2-3 weeks until it could feed independently. I must say that I have yet to see as skilful a ‘capture’ of a bird with razor sharp talons as done by Chiu. He has given instructions on feeding and care and the saga continues…

“The children have already named the bird ‘Prince’ although some of us were keen on a Harry Potters’s owl’s name ‘Hedgwick’ – but they have the privilege, having discovered it first.

“Many thanks to Chiu for his time, expert advice and gentle care.”

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh City, Perak, Malaysia
2nd February 2010