Raptors regularly show off their flying skills with fantastic aerial displays. Such displays may involve courtship, play or raw aggression. And one of the most common species indulging in such acrobatic displays is the White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster). If a pair of juvenile eagles are involved, play may be involved. Or even aggression. If both are adults and of the same sex, play may again be involved, although you cannot exclude aggression. When both sexes are involved, the display can be courtship. But how sure are we in our interpretations? Obviously there is an urgent need to make more observations, take detailed notes and compare details. In due course our understanding may be slightly improved.

But aerial displays need not involve two birds of the same species. There are many cases where different species are involved.

The current series of display involves a juvenile White-bellied Sea Eagle and what looks like a juvenile Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus). In the image above the kite was flying past when suddenly the eagle appeared below it.

The eagle turned over and circled up with wings outstretched and belly facing upwards in an effort to confront the kite (top left). The kite was about half the size of the eagle and had the advantage of being able to fly faster (above right, below left). The kite flew ahead, leaving the eagle further and further behind (below right).

So an ugly confrontation was adverted. And an opportunity to witness any possible locking of talons between an eagle and a kite and any interspecific intimidation slipped by.

Input by YC, images by Chan Yoke Meng. KC Tsang has been assisting in the ID of the birds.

Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) has been very successful in colonising the earth. In fact it is found breeding in all six continents and as a rare vagrant in the seventh, Antarctica.

The bird was once confined to the Old World continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. However, during the last century or so it managed to cross the seas to Australasia.

Then sometime during the early part of the 20th century, a few Cattle Egrets found their way to South America. They did not fly across the Atlantic Ocean but blown westward across by a tropical storm. From Africa they landed in Guiana, at the North East coast of South America.

There, the Cattle Egrets settled and bred, spreading into North America by the 1940s. By the 1950s they were well into Florida. From there, they spread all over the warmer regions of the continent. They are now a common sight in North America.

The bird is a common winter visitor and passage migrant in Singapore. They generally move with cattle, catching insects that are disturbed by the latter. In the 1950s and 1960s when cows were literally roaming Singapore roads, Cattle Egrets were a common sight. Now that cows are banned from roaming freely all over the island, they are still a common sight.

Most of these are free-flying birds from the Jurong Bird Park, often seen in western Singapore but spreading rapidly throughout the country. They are breeding in large numbers within the park, establishing its status as a feral species.

Indeed, Cattle Egret is an example of a great avian success story.

Input by YC, image by John Lynn.

The nests House Crows (Corvus splendens) build are crude structures made up of interlocking twigs gathered from surrounding trees and shrubs. Together with these twigs are pieces of wires of various lengths and thickness picked up from around the area, maybe to strengthen the nest structure. The rusty wires can clearly be seen around the base of the nest on the left. Sitting in the centre of this massive structure is a neat shallow cup lined with plant fibres.

Tang Hung Bun observed a nest incorporated with knotted lengths of thick plastic. These are the pieces used in portable, petrol-driven machines that grass cutters use. The sweeping, circular motion of the pieces cuts off the grass blades. These plastic pieces often get detached, sometimes hitting passersby. The crows have obviously found a new use for these discarded plastic pieces.

Straycat in her blog recounts the time when clothes hangers disappeared from his backyard. The mystery was solved when a nearby House Crows’ nest was seen with hangers jutting out from the side.

Now Badaunt has sent this message: “…I don’t like to admit it out loud around here, but I am fascinated by the clever crow hooligans that are such a menace in Japanese cities. Just yesterday I found a fabulously arty coat hanger nest high up a tree in a small park near my house, and got some pictures (right). In the same park there was another, ‘traditional’ crow’s nest - not a coat hanger in sight. Why do they do that? It makes the whole thing look very purposeful - one nest all coat hangers, the other none, like they were picking and choosing rather than just being opportunistic.”

She returned to the location hoping to get better pictures of the nest but discoverted two more nests nearby. A close up image on the left shows that the crows probably collected all the hangers in the neighbourhood. Please check out her subsequent posting.

These Japanese crows are Jungle Crows (Corvus macrorhynchos), and apparently they are compulsive collectors of coat hangers. I am sure if we leave a whole batch of hangers outside, our House Crows will take them all for their nests. Anyone game to try?

Input by YC and Badaunt. Top image by YC, hanger images by Badaunt.

The Red-breasted Parakeet (Psittacula alexandri) is a feral resident that is currently getting more and more common and slowly replacing the Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri), another feral species, as well as the Long-tailed (Psittacula longicauda), a resident.

The parakeet was first reported as far back as 1943 without any sign of breeding taking place. Through the years there were further reports of sightings and later, reports of breeding, until now these birds are increasing in numbers and slowly replacing the other two species. The image on the left shows a male Red-breasted Parakeet.

The parakeet nests in tree cavities and several pairs may nest in the same tree or adjacent trees. A small colony can be seen in Changi Village where they nest in angsana trees (Pterocarpus indicus).

Robson’s Birds of South-east Asia lists the subspecies of this Red-breasted as fasciata.

The recent report of mating of the Red-breasted at Changi, accompanied by images of these birds has cast doubt on the identification of the subspecies.

Two of the males in the image have been identified as nominate P. a. alexandri by Joseph M. Forshaw, the world’s leading expert on parrots. The third male, the one mounting the female, shows a slight tendency toward fasciata as the breast is slightly darker (see below).

And according to Joseph, “Presumably the population in Singapore originated from birds that escaped from captivity, and so it is possible that both alexandri and fasciata could be present, as well as hybrids between the two. I would identify all males in your photograph as nominate P. a. alexandri, though the mounting male is slightly darker on the breast and so does show a slight tendency toward fasciata.

“As you so rightly point out, there is uncertainty about subspecific identity of the female. I suggest that there are two possibilities - she may be a alexandri x fasciata intermediate, or she could be a younger bird (first or early second year) that has not acquired the all-red bill of the adult. I am of the opinion that she is a younger bird of alexandri, and would point out that adult males mating with females in subadult plumage is not uncommon among parrots; the reverse, involving males in subadult plumage is quite uncommon.

“This is indeed interesting, for it indicates that the population in Singapore may be alexandri, not fasciata as had been claimed. Further investigations are needed to settle this query.”

Yes, birders should pay more attention to the Red-breasted Parakeet. We have yet to establish whether the subspecies fasciata exists. And if so, are there hybrids around? The mounting male whose plumage is darker than the other males may hint to their presence.

Input by YC and Melinda Chan, confirmation by Joseph M Forshaw and images by Chan Yoke Meng.

Although they are called kingfishers, not all kingfishers eat fish. Of the 90 or so species, well over half feed at least sometimes on other prey. There are several species that do not feed on fish at all. And not all kingfishers live by water as some actually avoid water, preferring to live in wooded areas.

During March 2007 Connie Khoo was busy observing a pair of White-throated Kingfishers (Halcyon smyrnensis) bringing back food for the chicks (left). One thing she noticed was that the parents never brought back any fish to feed the chicks. There were plenty of lizards, of different species, and frogs, insects and even a big spider. But definitely no fish.

There were two growing chicks in the nest and they needed to be fed regularly. Apparently lizards were the favourite food (below).

But what surprised Connie most was when one of the parent bird brought back a rat (below left). The rat was struggling vigorously and the kingfisher was bashing it continuously against the branch it was perching on until it became lifeless. About 45 minutes later the other parent came flying with another rat in its bill. But the rat was not for the chicks as the bird swallowed it – with difficulty, head first of course (below right). It took all of three minutes to complete the job, with short rests in between.

Connie was worried, “His whole mouth was wide open… and for a while I was thinking will he choke to death? Finally when he finished swallowing the whole rat, he took a deep breath and rested for about 10 minutes before flying off to join his mate who was holding another lizard ready to feed the young chicks again.”

Input and images by Connie Knoo. The information and images was made available through the good office of KC Tsang.