On 15th June 2006, Lin Yangchen made this observation: “Although the Black-naped Tern (Sterna sumatrana) at Loyang have packed up, the Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensises) are still in business. I joined a pair of them at lunch. One was uttering expletives perched at the top of one of the dead coconut trunks sticking out of the sea while the other was feeding their kids in the cavity just below the top. The bill of the food-collecting parent was smeared with orange bits of leftovers which I couldn’t identify and he/she didn’t bother to wipe his/her beak. The food was transferred down from an opening at the top of the trunk, which means that the kids got rained on quite heavily. In any case the nest seemed too small for even one parent to enter; do the parents go hide somewhere else during a storm? I don’t suppose leaving a nest unprotected during heavy rain would expose it to great risk of predation. But how about hypothermia? Does the glossiness of the species’ plumage indicate the presence of some hydrophobic coating that confers higher water resistance?

“This seemingly hostile environment is, however, immune to land attack. Air strikes are mediated by communal nesting. And imagine yourself as a juvenile preparing for takeoff on your maiden flight. Anything less than Top Gun will be banished forever to the bottom of the sea.”

Input and images by Lin Yangchen.

The breeding season of Little Terns (Sterna albifrons) in Singapore starts from May to end in July. The first step involves pairing, after which courtship begins. Typical courtship behaviour involves the male bird bringing fish to his mate. This may continue for some time before the pair actually bonds. After all, the female has to be convinced of the male’s ability to provide for her and her brood during the period of egg incubation and after. Only then will copulation actually takes place.

This involves the female crouching and the male hopping on her, to make cloacal contact. This happens only for a brief period but mating may take place many times a day.After copulation comes egg laying. The birds choose a piece of bare ground near water to lay the eggs. Once the nestlings fledge, both birds continue to feed them until the fledglings are able to care for themselves.

Meng and Melinda Chan were at the Neo Tiew area last year and brought back these dramatic images to share.

Ho Shuping wrote: “On 10th July, 2006I heard a commotion outside with the repeated calls of a Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris). I looked up and saw this owl that I thought was a Spotted Wood Owl (Strix seloputo) in a tree in my garden.

“Many birds flew by and perched at a distance before taking off again. Then there was an unusual silence. There were two Oriental Magpie-robins (Copsychus saularis), two pairs of Yellow-vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus goiavier), a pair of Black-naped Orioles (Oriolus chinensis) and I could also hear Long-tailed Parakeets (Psittacula longicauda) flying by and calling (though I am not sure if that was related to the presence of the owl). The owl sat in the tree (seemingly sleeping, occasionally opening an eye) from when I saw it at 1 pm and the last I saw it at 5.30 pm. It was gone when I went to check at 7.00 pm.

“I saw it again two days later in a neighbour’s coconut palm (Cocos nucifera), being actively mobbed by two pairs of Oriental Magpie-robins.

“Is it a Spotted Wood Owl and is it a common garden resident? The bird is reported to be forest edge dwellers and this is the first time I’ve seen one here. I am also surprised it chose to sit in such an exposed tree.” Our bird specialist R Subaraj replied: “This large owl is a Spotted Wood Owl, an uncommon resident in Singapore with about 20 or so known pairs, mostly from southern and central Singapore but also from the west and east as well as offshore islands like Ubin, Tekong, Sentosa and St. Johns.

“The owl is a resident of forest edge, woodlands, rural countryside and large wooded parkland and gardens. Birds usually roost in a large dense tree but when disturbed, may occasionally roost for the day in a more open tree. Recently fledged birds also tend to roost less sensibly while seeking out a new territory for themselves. We have a recent photo record of this owl at Chinatown and also an earlier record of it being mobbed. We have also posted an account of a Barn Owl (Tyto alba) being mobbed by House Crows (Corvus splendens).

“Predators like owls, snakes and raptors are often subjected to mobbing by various birds (and other animals) as they try to drive it away from their territory. Even owls that roost in dense vegetation may often be mobbed when accidentally discovered by a foraging party of birds.

“This spectacular bird normally starts calling (growls followed by loud barks) around dusk and departs its roost to feed soon after. I have observed it feeding on bats that hawk insects around a street lamp.”

Thank you Shuping, for this interesting encounter and images.

Chan Yoke Meng had the opportunity to observe the small colony of captive Greater Flamingoes (Phoenicopterus rubber), also known as Caribbean Flamingoes, at the Jurong Bird Park between December 2003 and January 2004. He witnessed and recorded on film the hatching of one egg and how the parent birds fed the chick.There were three nests, each a small mound of earth with a shallow depression at the top. On each of the nests was a single egg. The egg in one nest hatched on 1st January 2004 giving a healthy chick. The second nest gave a dead chick. The egg in the third nest failed to hatch. The successfully hatched chick was totally covered with white down feathers. During the first few days the chick was snugly tucked under the wing of the parent bird. With its head poking out of the wing, the chick was fed with a milky liquid secreted from the upper digestive track of the parent. The parent held its curved bill over the chick’s straight bill and dripped the secretion down. Flamingo chicks are usually fed by their parents until the former are quite old, even after their bill is completely curved and capable of filter feeding. Thanks Meng for sharing your observations and images. Obviously the chick did not approve of your presence.

The yellow simpoh (Dillenia suffruticosa) is a common shrub of rural areas and secondary growths. The large leaves were once used to wrap food in wet markets. They are still being used to wrap tempeh, the slightly fermented soya bean cake used in local cooking.

The plant flowers throughout the year, putting forth its large and attractive yellow flowers found on long flowering stalks. Along each stalk usually only one flowering bud bursts open during the early hours of the morning. It becomes fully opened just before sunrise. Lasting only a day, the flower then sheds its petals by evening and the fleshy sepals fold back on the developing fruit. Along any flowering branch there would be flower buds and developing fruits that look like flower buds, usually larger.

When the fruit is matured, the fleshy sepals surrounding it unfolds, and the fruit itself splits opens into a number of parts. The separate pink rays bordered by white is filled with pulpy scarlet seeds. This colourful structure may mislead some to think that it is the flowers. But it is definitely the fruit. The image above shows the ripe fruit (right) minus the seeds, which are a favourite with birds. The four bud-like structures are the developing fruits looking like flower buds.

In April 2006 Chan Yoke Meng photographed a Long-tailed Parakeets (Psittacula longicauda) eating what looked like a flower bud (top and above right). The bud defied identification until Dr Shawn Lum suggested that it could be a flowering bud of a yellow simpoh. Going back to his collection of shots that were taken at Turut Track, Meng helped solved the problem when he sent one clearly showing a developing fruit (above, left) being chewed by the parakeet. Obviously the bird eats the flower buds as well as the young fruits. Can it be that it is unable to differentiate the two that are found along the same flowering branch?

Images by Chan Yoke Meng except that of fruits by YC. Thanks to Shawn Lum, KF Yap and Angie Ng for assisting in ID.