Television aerials are always mounted on the roof of houses or at the top of high-rise blocks for best reception. As such, they are found at the highest point of any location, whether a cluster of low-lying houses or a Housing Board estate.

Birds like to perch on any tall structure, whether the tallest tree around or the tallest man-made structure, in this case the TV aerial. Here, the birds get an excellent view of the surroundings, whether to just rest between flying from one point to another, to keep a look out for prey or just to group before going to roost. These aerials are favourites with mynas and starlings, grouping in the evening before flying to their roosting trees.

TV aerials are also useful points to look for birds. Just last month I was pleasantly surprised to see a pair of Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris convexus) perching on a TV aerial around my low-rise estate. These large birds regularly visit the gardens of houses to look for fruits and insects. On another occasion I was witness to a pair of Javan Mynas (Acridotheres javanicus) mobbing a Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus) perching quietly on my neighbour’s TV aerial. The latter soon flew off.

In February, Hung Ban Tang reported seeing a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) perching on a TV aerial mounted on the roof of the 24-storey block of apartments next to his condomonium. A few moments later the falcon suddenly made a dive towards a small flock of rock pigeons that flew close by his bedroom window. Unfortunately the falcon missed its prey and made a big loop round to return back to its perch on the aerial.

Images by YC (top, centre) and Tang (bottom).

On 19th April 2006 we had a posting by Angie Ng about how a House Crow (Corvus splendens) attacked and surgically cut up a rat. Gloria Seow, a member of the Nature Society (Singapore), read the account and sent in her encounter of these crows with an unfortunate bat.

“I am a member of NSS and I’ve been following your blog closely. Very interesting read so far, good job!

“Anyhow, since the topic has turned to crows and their hunting instincts, I am compelled to relate an encounter that I had with them. I was cycling through a quiet street flanked by landed properties on both sides (in Singapore) when I spied a group of about 6 House Crows in the middle of the street, pecking furiously at something. I stopped my bike out of curiosity and as I walked over to see what the commotion was about, the crows flew off en masse, unveiling their victim - a small bat that looked next to dead.

“The crows were apparently pecking at the bat’s throat, which was mangled and bloodied. There was nothing I could do to help the poor bat, which I believe had been systematically hunted by the crows. My theory is that it was probably napping in the mango tree (the incident happend at around 11am) when the crows decided that it was going to be their next meal.

“After snapping a few shots of the bat with my camera phone, I had to step aside for a passing car, and when I returned, the bat had apparently reared itself into a L-shaped ’sitting’ position, when previously it was lying flat on the tarmac. It was probably reacting to the prospect of being crushed by the passing vehicle.

“I did not stay to watch the crows finish off the little bat, which I’m sure would have been what happened after I left.

“I’m not surprised that crows are hunters too, given their advantage of having a larger built than most other birds, their huge beaks and their sheer numbers. The explosion of the crow population in Singapore also points to the abundance of food sources, which I’m sure cannot be just due to the rubbish left lying around, after all, Singapore is supposed to be CLEAN and green.

Warmest regards, Gloria Seow”

Our bird specialais, R. Subaraj has this to say: The bat in the photos appears to be a Common Fruit Bat (or Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat), Cynopterus brachyotis. This is quite possibly our commonest local bat and is widespread in all habitats. They are often the colony found roosting under palm fronds or epiphytic ferns.

The crows are efficient hunters, though scavenging where ever possible is much easier. There are many accounts of crows attacking and killing a variety of animals, though more often than not, they would target the old, sick, weak or young.

The House Crow is the introduced species found commonly throughout most of Singapore, particularly around the more urbanised areas. It is largely a scavenger but is also a true opportunist. Often, when some birds like herons nest communally, the crows will take up residence nearby and steal eggs and chicks when the adults leave the nests unguarded. As a result, the large populations that exists in parts of Singapore pose a real threat to native bird populations. The fairly recent colonisation of Asian Koels (Eudynamys scolopacea) provides the first known biological control in Singapore for this feral species.

The native crow of Singapore is the Large-billed Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos). This is a much larger species and is all black without the grey on the neck that the House Crow pocesses. It has an impressive bill and a prominent bump on the head. It is also different in call and flight. This species is usually in pairs (unlike the flocking of the House) except when roosting for the night. They are far less common and largely occur in the less urbanised areas including our forested nature reserves. While they are proficient scavengers too, they are also effective hunters. I remember seeing a pair of Large-billed Crows chased a fruit bat, that they had probably disturbed from roost, at Khatib Bongsu some years back. Recently, I have realised that they are not above trying new things too when I watched them trying to hawk flying termites!

Thanks to Gloria Seow for the post and Subaraj for the comment. Images by Gloria.

Angie Ng reports a most interesting encounter her husband had with a rat: “When I first noticed House Crows (Corvus splendens) in the Angsana tree (Pterocarpus indicus) outside my apartment window, they were sharpening their beaks on the branches and plucking the leaves. And I wondered why they were doing that! Then my husband related to me an incredible incident he witnessed some years ago in Redhill.

“He was about to cross the road to catch the train when he was stopped by a huge rat cutting across his path. Even before the rodent could reach the other side of the road, a House Crow suddenly appeared.

“It dive-landed on the rat’s back, pressing it down. When the startled rat turned its head to look up at what had pinned him down, the crow plunged its sharp bill right through into its eyes (and brain?). Deadly paralysing! Then it hopped aloft and as the rat rolled onto its back - or did the crow roll it over - the crow with legs apart, landed onto the rat’s belly. Again the sharp beak plunged in, and with a quick slicing motion, slit open the belly. Another plunge and its bloody beak pulled up and out some entrails!

“It flew off with the first beakful when passing traffic interrupted its meal but returned when the road was clear again.

“I wonder whether we could train our House Crows to clean up our streets and marketplaces of rats?”

R. Subaraj finds the account most interesting but added that crows are effective hunters when not scavenging.

Image of crow by Hung Bun Tang and of rat by YC.

Singapore has two species of bee-eater, Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus) and Blue-throated Bee-eater (M. viridis). The former is a very common winter visitor while the latter is a common resident but a rather uncommon winter visitor. These birds, as their names imply, specialise on bees, often caught on the wing. They also eat other insects of the same hymenopteran group as well as other groups of insects. But they seldom eat ground insects.

The bird normally perches on a high vantage point where it can keep a keen lookout for flying insects. Once it spots an insect, it sallies forth, catching and bringing it back to its perch to be processed. This involves striking it against the branch to stun it and rubbing it against a hard surface to remove the sting and venom sac. Once the insect has been properly processed, it is tossed in the air and immediately swallowed.

Bee-eaters regularly regurgitate pellets containing the indigestible remains of the insects they eat. It has been reported that the fresh pellet is blackish and about 1-3 cm long.

In an earlier posting I mentioned witnessing a Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus) regurgitating a pellet. Ardent birder, Cheong Weng Chun was quick to confirm, and so was Jianzhong Liu who sent an image of the bird in the act of pushing out a pellet from its mouth. By any account the image is awesome. I always find it interesting that photographers are the ones who notice and provide evidence of such details, not the normal birdwatchers. Why? Because photographers click, wait to click again and wait some more. And birders aim the binoculars, ID the bird and move away. The latter thus miss the most of the juicy aspects of bird watching. I have said before and I say it again. Birders should seriously think of becoming photographers…

In the meantime I have managed to obtain a series of images of the Blue-tailed Bee-eater caught in the act of casting a pellet. They are displayed here, courtesy of photographers Meng and Melinda Chan. Thank you both for agreeing to share with others your exciting series of images.


Meanwhile Jianzhong Liu has alerted me to a thread in a Taiwan forum on pellet casting by a shorebird.

Part 1 of “Birds and glass windows” gives the background to this interesting post. In Part 2 here, we continue the discussion from the rest of the interested birders on their personal encoounters.

Tian Soo has this to say: “Yesterday while reading your messages on birds and windows, a little Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis) smashed right onto my window panel. It’s neck was twisted and died half hour later. Are they that aggressive when driving other birds away or does it simply thought the reflection on the window was clear blue sky? Now I can hear the other birds calling ‘CooCoo’ CooCoo’”

Yap Kim Fatt responded: “Birds don’t commit suicide unless driven by humans to do so. It is not uncommon for birds to fly into glass windows, either maim or kill themselves. It got misled by the transparent glass and tried to fly right through it. A long time ago, a water bird (don’t know name - it had long legs, long slightly curved bill, feathers off-white with brownish spots) flew into my glass window one evening, possibly attracted by the bright light and broke a wing. I nursed it back to health & let it go its merry way.”

Replied Tian Soo: “I think in my case the room is dark so it sees the reflection of the sky and continue its journey. If it sees itself as another bird I don’t think it will crash onto it at this force. Other birds peck at my window everyday. In KF’s case it cannot see the clear glass between the light and itself. I am curious. If they can make these mistakes, there should be lots of dead birds along Shenton Way and Raffles Place with all the tall buildings and glass windows.”

According to YC, birds apparently cannot recognise themselves in a mirror. So when a bird lands in front of a glass window with the background darkened, it sees its reflection. Thinking there is a rival in front of it, it batters against the window pane in an effort to dominate it. Come to think of it, Yellow-vented Bulbuls regularly peck on my bedroom windows.”

Ong Kiem Sian has this to say: “Usually when they fly into glass window it is because they cannot see it as a structure in front. I work in Raffles Place and often see the clouds/sky reflected on the big glass panels of the high-rise buildings. There were several cases of birds dying this way, hitting against building, becoming unconscious and died or somebody could rescue it if the injury was not too bad. I experienced years ago a cuckoo flying through my green chain link fence (not very high may be 5-6 feet high) and the bird got stuck, damaged its wings. Despite feeding and caring it finally died.

“When birds peck on windows or mirrors it is seeing its own image and not recognizing itself. Years ago when I walked home from work, an oriole used to fly to the side mirror of a car. It perched on it and looked at its own image and pecked the mirror. I never had time to go home and take my video. It happened several times and it always returned to the same car.”

The final word comes from bird specialist R. Subaraj: “Pecking at windows is more of a territorial behaviour and many birds do it. As for collision on glass, especially one way mirror windows during the day when the light is coming from the outside, this is a matter of the bird mistaking the reflection of the open space as clear passage. Fast-flying birds are particularly prone and both the escaping prey or attacking predator can meet with a similar fate. Night-flying migrants are particularly vulnerable to all the city lights and glass buildings…..many must crash into buildings at Shenton Way and other places but our army of super-efficient cleaners probably sweep them away before we have a chance to encounter the carcasses. There are many records of stunned, injured or dead birds found at buildings, homes and many were migrants. Some migrants reported or handed in to the bird park include pittas, Black-backed Kingfisher and bitterns.”

…and even the large Rhinoceros Hornbill (B. rhinoceros) is fascinated with its reflection.

We wish to thank Tian Soo, Yap Kim Fatt, Ong Kiem Sian and R Subaraj for their input. Images by YC.