The Pied Fantail (Rhipidura javanica) is a small bird that is never still. The bird is constantly moving around, at the same time turning from side to side in a jerky way, lowering its wings, cocking up its head and constantly fanning its tail - opening and closing.

It moves alone or in pairs, disturbing insects among vegetation with its movements and the fanning of the tail, to sally forth once an insect is disturbed from its rest. Sometimes it perches on a branch, but never remaining in one place for long, to hawk for flies and other insects.

Its antics are always amusing to watch. So much so that the Malays call it merbok gila, gila meaning mad. It is also known as murai gila, meaning crazy songbird or thrush.

K.C. Tsang wrote: “This bird, according to the books, is supposed to be found in most areas in Singapore, from mangrove swamps, to parks, to gardens etc. In reality I have found it in the Singapore Botanic Gardens and Sg. Buloh Wetland Reserve. Maybe it has been hiding from me in, say, MacRitchie and other reservoirs. Also, I have found that it shares the same kind of food as the Ashy Tailorbird (Orthotomus ruficeps), taking insects from under leaf cover.

“It is an extremely shy bird and rarely do you find it out from under the cover of dense vegetation.”

Our bird specialist R. Subaraj replies: “It is primarily a mangrove species but is also found in smaller numbers in various parts of Singapore. They are commonest at places like Sungei Buloh, Pulau Ubin, Pasir Ris mangrove and other natural coastal areas. Inland sites include Singapore Botanic Gardens, Bukit Batok Nature Park and many of the areas that support old abandoned farmland, particularly where there is water.

“Although it is occasionally found on the edge, where old farmland exists, this species does not normally occur within our true forested areas and this includes most of the margins of the reservoirs within the Central Catchment, including MacRitchie.

“On the balance of things here, this is still a common and fairly widespread bird.”

Images by Chan Yoke Meng (top two) and Johnny Wee (bottom).

Colugo or flying lemur (Cynocephalus variegates) is a mammal that goes back to ancient times (above). Colugo is a better name as flying lemur can be misleading. Why? True lemurs are primates that are only found in the island of Madagascar. The images below show the Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta), a true lemur, basking in the sun (below, left) and huddling from the cold (below, right).

Colugo is also a mammal but it is neither a lemur nor a primate. It belongs to a separate order of its own, the Dermoptera (Greek derma = skin; ptera = wing). It does not fly but actually glides. This it does with the help of a special membrane that extends from the neck region to the fore feet and the hind feet and thence to the tip of the tail (below).

In Singapore, Colugo is found in the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and the Central Catchment Forest.

Hot from the press is a book on this fascinating animal, written by Norman Lim with Morten Strange as editor (left). The book is published by Draco Publishing and Distribution Pte. Ltd. in conjunction with Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. It is currently available at the Botanic Gardens Shop, Nature’s Niche.

The diet of this animal is mainly leaves, young shoots and flowers of selected plants. During the day it rest high up in the tree, clinging to a tree trunk or hiding in a tree hole. Comes dusk, it becomes active, gliding from tree trunk to tree trunk. The young is carried clinging to the flight membrane.

Cited in the book is a report by Tan Choo Eng; “On Aug 6, 2006, I was at an uncompleted stretch of the new Baling Gerik highway on the Perak section in Peninsular Malaysia together with two other members of the Malaysian Nature Society. We witnessed a Changeable Hawk-eagle (Spizaetus cirrhatus, pale morph) attack a Colugo.

“After the failed attack, the Colugo stayed motionless (11am) on an exposed mid section of a tree trunk for about 40 minutes, even after the threat was gone (11.40am). Then it scampered up the tree trunk and glided into some more leafy trees.”

The image on the left is that of a Changeable Hawk-eagle, pale morph.

Images from top, of Colugo clinging on to tree trunk and palm frond by Johnny Wee, Ring-tailed Lemur by YC; Colugo gliding by YC; book cover by Morten Strange; and Changeable Hawk-eagle by Johnny Wee.

Allan Teo submitted the above two images of a pair of Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) coming together and gently grabbing each other’s beak.

According to Marzluff & Angell (2005), the mutual mouthing between two birds is known as allobilling. This often escalate into sharp jabs and brief fighting. This is commonly seen in ravens and less common in crows.

The question now is, are the kingfishers allobilling? Unfortunately Allan is not able to provide information on what actually happened before and after the birds started mouthing each other.

Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) indulge in bill-touching, but this happens when the female is trying to coax the male to regurgitate food. And this is not allobilling. Again, the mutual transfer of food is not allobilling.

So, is the image captured by Chan Yoke Meng of a pair of White-crested Laughingthrush (Garrulax leucolophus) as seen below, allobilling? Maybe. Maybe not. Or are the birds indulging in allopreening? Obviously more observations need to be done on this phenomenon. Birders are urged to make detailed observations when birds touch bills and report back. Only then can we slowly understand this seldom reported phenomenon outside ravens and crows. And I am not sure whether anyone has actually reported this happening with the local crows.

Reference:
Marzluff, J. M. & Angell, T. (2005). In the company of crows and ravens. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. (p166)

Input by YC, images of kingfishers by Allan Teo and laughingthrush by Chan Yoke Meng.

The brief appearance of the Ruddy Kingfisher (Halcyon coromanda), an uncommon passage migrant and winter visitor to Singapore, towards the end of October 2006 caused quite a stir among local birders (1, 2). The bright rufous plumage and red bill make identification easy. However, there is another distinguishing feature that most birders miss as it is only seen in flight (above). This is the “back and rump silvery white to azure-blue” patch, according to Wells (1999). In the juvenile bird the patch is “wholly blue rather than silvery.” The image above shows the bird perching on a branch and eying a prey on the ground. Note the bright dark brown iris. In the image above, taken just before the bird dived down to catch a prey, the eye is covered with a translucent layer, the nictitating membrane. This has a protective function as the bird plunges among the vegetation.

The close-up views of the eyes above show the normal eye (left) and covered with the nictitating membrane (right).

Input by Melinda Chan, images by Chan Yoke Meng.

Domestic cats are excellent hunters, always stalking and in many cases catching garden birds. They may then present the caught bird to their owners, as if to repay them for the care and food. An earlier post details how a cat caught one of a pair of kingfisher. Mynas normally alert other birds whenever a cat is in my garden and we have also been told that cats are a definite no-no in Australia.

There are many cases of cats killing birds but there are just as many cases of the birds being rescued by the owners, to be nursed back to health and then released. This is a case where the bird ultimately found freedom when the owners intervened.
Teo Lee Wei has two cats in her house. Kitty the tortoise-shell cat and Meatball, the cat with the tuxedo suit and white socks (top). Well, in November 2006 Kitty (above) ran up very furtively to her bedroom with a strange bird in its mouth to be followed by Meatball.

Lee Wei’s husband Kais ran after the cats and managed to prise the bird from Kitty’s jaw and took it away. The bird was in deep shock but did not appear to have any injuries (above). It was placed in a bird cage and both of them nursed it for a day (below). They then locked up their two cats before setting the bird free, giving it ample time to make a getaway before releasing the cats again. The strange bird was later identified as the Asian Paradise-flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi).

Input and images by Teo Lee Wei.