Do birds have teeth? A few species may look as if they do. But these are actually tooth-like notches on their mandibles. And they are also not used to chew food. However, a developing chick inside the egg may have an egg-tooth, a sharp projection on its bill. But this is not a true tooth. As the chick inside the egg develops, the shell thins from the inner lining as calcium is absorbed. Even then the shell is still a substantial barrier between the hatchling and the outside world.

The chick needs to break out of the egg by pecking hard on the inner wall of the eggshell. This it does with the help of a sharp egg tooth found at the tip of the upper beak. This tooth disappears in the weeks after hatching.

This is the theory most birders know. But how many of us have actually seen the egg tooth? Only with the help of photographs do we have a chance of actually see the tooth.

In the above image of two Peaceful Dove (Geopelia striata) (previously called Zebra Dove) chicks, the egg tooth can distinctly be seen at the tip of the beak.

The image below shows very clearly the egg tooth in two Pink-necked Green Pigeon (Treron vernans) chicks.
Text by YC, images by YC (top) and Chan Yoke Meng (bottom).

The Great-billed Heron (Ardea sumatrana) is one of the tallest bird seen in Singapore and as such will always be a talking point. However, it is a rare resident. Its appearance in Chek Jawa in the offshore island of Pulau Ubin and also in the Chinese Garden in Jurong recently has got birders and photographers excited. Foo Sai Khoon, an avid photographer, managed to capture a series of images of the heron successfully catching a fish.
Although reported to prefer mangroves, mudflats and rocky islets, it is commonly seen also in inland rivers. Thus its presence in the freshwater pond in Jurong is nothing unusual.
As with most herons, the Great-billed is a carnivore. It hunts alone, catching mainly fish, crabs and other crustaceans as well as mudskippers. It has a long and thick bill that allows it to handle large prey. Its long legs make it easy for the bird to stalk prey in shallow water (top).
Herons use various methods to hunt. The bird may stand motionless in shallow water for fish or some other aquatic prey to come within easy reach before suddenly pouncing on it (second from top). Or it may wade slowly along, searching for prey.

As the prey is in the water, the bird needs to compensate for refraction. Thus the head and neck are moved from side to side (left) as well as forward and backward. Such movements allow the bird to improve on its binocular vision and to calculate the exact distance of the prey.

The bird generally captures its prey by grabbing it with its bill or even impaling it. We have already seen how the Little Heron (Butorides striatus) baits prey. Once the prey is caught, it is swallowed whole, usually head first (above two). Parts that are not digested, like scales and bones, are regurgitated in the form of a pellet.

Input and images by Foo Sai Khoon. The images were originally posted here.

On 16th July 2006 at about 10 am, Yeo Seng Beng was pleasantly surprised to see three Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) around the Binjai Park area. The three birds, two adults and a smaller juvenile, were slowly moving together from tree to tree. Armed with his camera, he followed the birds. And apparently they allowed him to get close enough for him to notice a bee between the beak of one of the birds. As Seng Beng wrote: “From one of the photos, you can see the bumble bee in it’s mouth. I could even hear how crunchy it was, as it was eating it! That’s how close the birds allowed me to approach.”

The Binjai Park and the surroundings areas have been visited more than a few times by these impressive hornbills. Their arrival would be announced by their characteristic loud calls and they would loiter around some trees along the roadside and even in someone’s garden. And without fail, their presence would result in great excitement as seldom do people see such large and impressive birds in our urban areas.

Seng Beng has also been active in persuading National Parks Board to reintroduce binjai trees (Mangifera caesia) back to Binjai Park. After all, the estate has been named after these exotic fruit trees that belong to the mango family. The area was possibly once a fruit orchard planted up with many such trees. Currently there are still a few tall and very old trees around the housing estate - within the confines of private compounds!

We wish to thank Dr Yeo Seng Beng for sharing his experience and images with us.

For past postings on hornbills around the area, see 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

The Changeable Hawk-Eagle (pale morph) (Spizaetus cirrhatus) is a protected wild life species under the Protection of Wild Life Act 1972 of Peninsular Malaysia. Under this Act, no poaching, selling, pet-keeping, eating, killing or possessing of the bird dead or alive, including any body parts, is allowed. This includes taking or destroying nests or eggs. Flaunting the Act is punishable by law and liable to a penalty fine or term in jail or both. Frequent bird surveillance of my local area confirms the sighting of a raptor roosting in a pulai or alstonia (Alstonia sp.) tree that is claimed by village owners to be more than 100 years old. Rising to more than 50 metres tall, the heart of the umbrella shaped canopy caresses an old raptor nest (above, arrowed), used and reused during the past 50 years, as believed by the villagers.

From this nest and hidden from public eye, generations of Changeable Hawk-Eagles were raised from hatching of an egg per clutch, and trained by their parents to fly and to prey for their survival.

“It is music to my ear” said a villager, whenever the raptors shrill with ascending, loud, high pitched whistles at dawn and at dusk to announce their iconic arrival to roost at the alstonia tree.

It was not long before development knocked on the front doors of villagers. They were persuaded to sell their tree and “pulai tree” as known to the villagers, became a hot topic of debate in the family living rooms.

As a frequent birder-visitor to the village, I was approached by a village elder to help save the tree and the avian occupants. He was a man with good hindsight. Living close to the alstonia tree, he would have much to lose as there would be risks of erosion and landslides, compromising lives of families living nearby, and mudflows into his property. His days of enjoying a cool evening breeze would be over and his living areas would be like a hot oven and raptors would shrill no more for his grandchildren to hear and know who these raptors were.

Felling the alstonia tree for a short term monetary gain is a poor vote as it cannot measure the immeasurable loss in the long run for the future welfare of the villagers. It is like selling one’s soul for a sack of rice. Evicting an old friend’s home and avian family of more than 50 years that has been living harmoniously and peacefully is a bad conscience one has to live with.

As requested by the village elder, I submitted a paper highlighting the importance of preserving the alstonia tree and the legality of protected species of avian wild life for the village family committee to deliberate upon. They decided on a positive vote.

Today, I am pleased to say, whenever I visit this village, the iconic alstonia tree with the Changeable Hawk-Eagle’s nest remain intact and looking tall as much as my pride. My presence in the village is made welcomed by the calls of the avian wild, smiles and greetings from villagers and children crowding to peep into my scope. It is a warm and rewarding feeling. But for how long more is hard to say as developers have plans to turn this small pocket of multiracial village into a concrete jungle.

I was just simply taken there at the right time, right place and for the right purpose by divine intervention or whatever that one would choose to believe.

I was just passing through and perhaps… bought some time for the villagers to further reminiscent their childhood days, added value life to the 100 year old alstonia tree and an extended eviction grace period for the avian of the wild.

SUBMITTED BY: DAISY O’NEILL (Avian Writer), PENANG, MALAYSIA

For the months of February to May 2006 a pair of Great (Buceros bicronis) and Rhinoceros Hornbills (B. rhinoceros), both female, was regularly prospecting a potential nesting cavity in an old albizia tree (Paraserianthes falcataria) in Eng Neo. Whenever the birds were there the Great, acting in the role of a male, would fly to the cavity and deposit food, presumably figs, inside. This is typical hornbill courtship behaviour, to assure its partner that it would continue to feed her during her confinement within the cavity throughout incubation and nestling development.

It could be assumed that the cavity would be a storehouse of figs, as daily the Great would repeat this ritual. That this was so was confirmed by visits of other birds like Hill Mynas (Gracula religiosa) (above, left) and Javan Mynas (Acridotheres javanicus) (above, right) entering the cavity and helping themselves to the figs.

Image of Hill Myna by Chan Yoke Meng and of Great Hornbill and Javan Myna by YC.