On 8th July 2006 KC Tsang came across three lapwings, two adults and a juvenile, at the Singapore Zoological Garden’s Rhino enclosure. Originally thought to be Yellow-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus malabaricus), it was later identified as Masked Lapwing (V. miles) by Mal Jenkins via the internet.

Apparently the English common name, Yellow-wattled Lapwing has been used for both V. malabaricus and (less commonly) for V. miles. Thus the resulting confusion.

Jeremy Lee wrote: “I remember seeing them as well last year. As you get into the zoo and walk straight towards the amphitheater, there is an open patch of turfed land on the right. I saw a pair walking there last year.”

Richard Hale added; “Oh dear. I omitted to report these three which I saw at the zoo car park on 1st March. What fascinated me was that as they walked on the shortish grass one foot was put forward to shake the grass ahead and presumably to stir up any insects lurking there. It was slow progress but seemed to work well as they got plenty to eat. Actually I had assumed they were part of the zoo.” Our bird specialist R. Subaraj has this to say: “These are actually Masked Lapwings from Australia. They were originally kept in animal enclosures at the zoo and the first batch escaped some years back when a tree fell onto the Pygmy Hippo enclosure, creating an opening. These birds were then seen at Lower Peirce, MacRitchie, Mandai Orchid Garden, Orchid Country Club, etc. Over the years they have become regular free-ranging species to be seen at the zoo and it’s surroundings, and occasionally elsewhere. They have not bred or established themselves as a feral species. The only true Peninsula Malaysian record of a Yellow-wattled Lapwing was of one bird with golden plovers at the campus of University Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 8th, 1979.”

Our thanks to KC Tsang, Jeremy Lee, Richard Hale and R Subaraj for their input. Image by KC.

On the evening of 5th August 2006, Matt Quin was pleasantly surprised when a large bird landed on the balcony of his apartment at Bukit Tinggi. He went into the web and found out that it was a Great Hornbill (Buceros bicronis). The bird had a metal ring around its right foot and he presumed rightly that it was an escapee from somewhere.

The hornbill was very comfortable with his presence and stayed for about 15 minutes before it flew off to the balcony of the apartment above his. Matt’s final words: “A truly impressive bird!”Yes, the Great Hornbill is truly impressive. This appears to be the only one left, probably an escapee from Jurong Bird Park many, many years ago. It is still flying around the Bukit Timah area, surprising Singaporeans who are generally not familiar with these birds with its presence.

In March this year the bird visited Stephen Lau’s apartment, also in the Bukit Timah area. Apparently it roosts at night within the grounds of Brian Ng’s condomonium. An earlier posting gives an account of it pairing with the Rhinoceros Hornbill (B. rhinoceros), another impressive bird, and checking on a cavity in an old tree for a potential nest.

Input and images courtesy of Matt Quin.

Lena Chow made an interesting observation on Yellow-vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus goiavier) at Aljunied Park, Singapore one day in June 2006:

“…after a heavy downpour they fly out of a spot in the treetop for about 2 metres and immediately fly back into the same spot, repeating this for quite a while. It’s quite a sight when a dozen or so bulbuls do this simultaneously, looks like a choreographed dance of sorts! I guess this must have something to do with drying themselves, but does anyone know if there’s anything more to this behaviour? The other birds in the park are nowhere to be seen at this time.” Our bird specialist R. Subaraj has this to say: “Most interesting observation. I cannot think of any other reason for this behaviour. You may be right in assuming that it has something to do with the drying process though we should continue observations on this ‘dance’ to see if there is more to it than meets the eye.”

Note: We need more observations by more birders before we can even try to understand this strange behaviour. So birders in the field, send in your observations.

Thank you, Lena, for this observation. Unfortunately we do not have an image of this aerial dance, so the above two have been provided by YC.

Allan Teo has been observing a group of Little Terns (Sterna albifrons) comprising of adults and juveniles somewhere in the western part of Singapore. He was fascinated by how disciplined the juveniles were when the parent bird brought fish to feed them.

“We observed a mother tern catering to two juveniles of about the same age. When one juvenile was hungry, it ‘ruffled’ its feathers and made a loud cry to the mother. “The mother bird would take off and hunt, while the juvenile waited along the shore stretching its wing or wading in the water.

“When the mother returned with a fish, both juveniles ruffled their feathers and gave loud cries. However, the mother knew exactly which juvenile had asked for the fish and would only hand over the fish to the requesting bird. “There was no struggle between the siblings for the fish. The receiving juvenile took its time to swallow the fish, confident that its sibling would not snatch it away.“I was waiting for a fight to occur but none materialised. The siblings remained where they were.

“The mother bird was observed feeding the juveniles one at a time as each took turns calling the mother for food.”

Input and images by Allan Teo.

Other postings on Little Terns include foraging, species of fish, courtship and after.

In April 2006 Johnny Wee spotted a White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) perching on a branch of a tree, eying a lizard on the ground nearby. He managed to take a few images with his digital camera as the bird launched at the prey. Back at his computer, he processed the images and found a number of them had birds whose eyes were white. Thinking that these were photographic artifacts, he erased them all.

In July 2006 Johnny observed a Pied Fantail (Rhipidura javanica) eying an insect. While intently concentrating on the prey, its eyes turned white and its tail feathers fanned out. This time he did not erase his white-eyed bird images but kept them as comparisons. The eyes returned to normal after feeding.

Two different observations on two different species of birds, both with eyes turning white just before the birds lunged on their preys must mean something.Birds have three eyelids – one upper, one lower and a nictitating membrane. The third is between the two other eyelids and the cornea and moves sideways. It is used in cleaning and protecting the eye.

It is believed that birds cover their eyes with the nictitating membrane when under water. This has been disputed by some, as the membrane, being translucent and not transparent, would obscure the sight of the bird in its search for food. Others question the necessity of covering the eyes in water, based on our experience of seeing under water.

The nictitating membrane is also believed to comes in useful during flying. The bird cannot afford to close its eyelids often when in the air. Loss of vision, even momentary, caused by closed eyelids can throw the bird off balance.

Ornithologist Geoffrey Davison believes that the whiteness of the eye in the image is due to the nictitating membrane coming across the eye just at the moment the image was taken. This may or may not be related to the bird’s intended movement.

Birders-photographers, please keep a look out for this phenomenon in your images.

Latest: My copy of Handbook of Bird Ornithology (2nd ed.) (2004) by S. Podulka, R.W. Rohrbaugh, Jr. & R. Bonney (eds.), New York: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, arrived today. On page 1.7 it is said that “In raptors and other predatory birds, the nictitating membrane protects the eyes as the bird pursues prey through heavy cover, such as a blackberry thicket.”

Input by YC and Geoffrey Davison, images of Pied Fantail by Johnny Wee.