The owl was faithfully perching on the same branch of the same tree almost every day for most of February 2007. It was there from early morning to late evening and was clearly visible to passersby. Where else can you view an own during the day but at Sentosa?

Yes, this is Sentosa’s very own Buffy Fish Owl (Ketupa ketupu).

The owl advertises its presence by the whitewash that stains the vegetation below. This is actually the bird’s liquid faeces and urine, made up mainly of uric acid (above).

The owl is normally seen with one foot on the branch and the other hidden among the body feathers. Its eyes are either opened, half-open or closed. When excessively stressed, especially by the presence of noisy trekkers below, it opens its eyes wide, the ears become erect together with all the feathers around (below). Note the nictitating membrane in both the eyes in the image on the right.

Although most people believe that owls can see in the dark and are blinded by bright light, this is not so. In total darkness as during moonless nights, they are not able to see. But the presence of starlight is enough for them to see. They can still see during the day. But as with night vision, owls can only see in varying degrees of black and white.

The eyes can react to the amount of light available by varying the size of the pupil through the action of the iris. As with many nocturnal animals, the eyes of owls, when exposed to a source of external light at night, respond with varying degrees of “eyeshine” – appearing to glow from red to gold (below right).

The two large and round eyes are placed directly in front, unlike in most other birds where the eyes are on the sides. This provides excellent binocular vision and with it depth of field, an advantage in gauging distances and in ensuring successful hunts.

The large eyes are not spherical but rather like elongated tubes embedded in the head. And because of this there can be no eyeball movement.

The owl is thus provided with an extremely flexible neck that allows the head to turn up to 270 degrees in either direction. This allows the bird to see behind without turning its body (left). It is also able to turn its heads almost completely upside down, allowing it to see upwards with binocular vision.

During rest, the upper and lower eyelids close. But in blinking, only the upper eyelid is involved (above left). The third eyelid, a translucent nictitating membrane that moves sideways, assists in protecting the eye and to keeping it clean (above right, left eye).

A closer look at the eyes show the presence of “eyelashes” that are actually special feathers that function to keep insects off the eyes (below).

There must be plenty of food around, especially rodents, for Sentosa to have such a visible owl mascot – as well as other species of owls. We are confident that the resort staff will not eliminate these rodents by baiting them with rat poison. Owls will eat the poisoned rats and be in turn poisoned. This is one way of moving towards a sanitised and faunal-free resort island.

Update: According to today’s Sunday Times, Sentosa Development Corporation is organising a walkabout and closed-door discussion with green groups, etc. on the clearing of the forest to make way for the Integrated Resort. As such, the area has been spruced and vegetation stained by the owl’s whitewash (top left) has now been cleaned. In the process the owl must have been disturbed and is nowhere to be seen for the past week.

Input by Melinda Chan and YC, images by Chan Yoke Meng.

This is the nest that the pair of Oriental White-eyes (Zosterops palpebrosus) built in Yen Lau’s potted Australian Bottlebrush (Callistemon rigidus) plant in December 2006-January 2007 (above left). The nest on the right is that of July 2006.

The current nest is a small and extremely flimsy, cup-shaped, asymmetrical nest. Circular in outline, the nest has a diameter of 65 mm and depth of 45 mm. The cup diameter is 55 mm and cup depth 35 mm.

The nest is sited about 2 metres up the potted plant. It is attached at three points to three very slender (3 mm) branches of the bottlebrush plant with the help of what looks like spider web or its cocoon silk (above). These pieces of silk are also found scattered on the outer surface of the nest.

The outer layer of the nest is woven from narrow strips of vegetable matters, probably grass leaves, a few strips of transparent raffia with a few bottlebrush leaves incorporated. The inner lining is made up mostly of very fine, black and shiny ‘stem’ pieces that are loosely placed around, not carefully weaved or even crudely interlocked.

The base of the nest is extra flimsy and see-through. Looking into the nest, it is possible to see through it (top right). Thus it was possible to see the eggs while the nest was still attached to the potted tree. The image at bottom right shows the rather asymmetrical nest as seen from below.

The nest diameter of the earlier nesting on July 2006 is 56 mm and depth 42 mm. The cup diameter is 42 mm. The nest is quite symmetrical. There are a lot of single strand silk, probably spider cocoon silk and larger blobs of probably spider’s web. The basal part has mosses incorporated. The nest lining is of fine fibre.

It would appear that the nest dimensions are slightly larger in the later nest. However, the earlier nest has more materials and appear stronger. Although the difference between the outer and inner diameter is about the same, the rim of the later nest is as thick as before but the nest wall proper is made up of less materials.

The conclusion by Yen Lau that the birds were not able to get enough nesting materials for their year-end nest is further confirmed.

Input by YC, nest provided by Yen Lau through the good office of KC Tsang. Images by YC except top right by KC.

Most of us are familiar with the money plant (Epipremnum aureum). This creeping plant with smallish leaves is a favourite indoor plant, usually placed in a container of water. However, when planted in the ground, the leaves can grow large indeed. The plant seldom flowers, if at all.

The dragon’s tail (Raphidophora korthalsii) is a close relative. It became popular some ten or more years ago when the local Chinese claimed that the leaves, boiled in water with rock sugar, made a healthy drink. There were many who claimed that the drink could cure various ailments. Suddenly each leaf cost a few dollars apiece and people began planting them. The plant grows rapidly, creeping along the trunk of trees or even walls. Even today, there are those who use the leaves to cure certain skin allergies.

I have a plant growing along the trunk of my Alexandra palm (Archontophoenix alexandrae). It was so unruly that I tried to kill it off. I lopped off portions of the stem from the palm trunk and peeled them off. But I was not able to remove the upper part of the stem. It kept growing, sending down aerial roots that entered the ground to obtain water and nutrients. Finally the plant flowered. And flowered regularly.

One day I noticed a few Black-naped Orioles (Oriolus chinensis) feeding on the fruits (above). And apparently enjoying them. These birds are usually very shy, flying off whenever they noticed my presence. But not this time. They remained eating until they had their fill, allowing me to photograph them.

On the morning of 25th February 2007, KC Tsang and wife Amy must have been feeling energetic. They took a long trek from Venus Drive car-park to the Ranger’s Station, and from there, to the Central Catchment area. Their walk paid off when they had a pleasant encounter with a pair of Striped Tit Babblers (Macronous gularis) actively building their nest within the dried resam (Dicranopteris linearis) thicket (below left).

What looked like a mass of dead leaves within the thicket was actually a meticulously constructed nest. It was perfectly camouflaged and if the birds were not seen building it, it would not be detected at all. In the middle of this mass was an entrance. Both birds were busy bringing pieces of dead palm fronds from a pile further down. And every minute or so one of the two birds would appear at the entrance, popped inside and deposited its piece. The moment one left, the other would appear with its piece of dried frond.

The whole morning that KC and Amy were there, the birds were busy lining their nest.

As KC said afterward,”From a photographer’s point of view, the nest site has no distinct unique feature, and to take pictures of the inside of the nest, I would have to borrow camera equipment that is being used for colonoscopy, to thread it through the fern thicket without having to cut a path to it.

“The nest is on the left of the picture, the whole place appears a mess. Well I guess it is a form of camouflage to not attract attention from predators.”

Striped-tit Babbler is supposed to be a common resident. Yet there is hardly any information on it. According to birder Alan OwYong, the last record of nesting was by Ong Kiem Sian many years ago. Our resident field ornithologist Wang Luan Keng says that “this is the earliest nest-building record in my database. There was only one other record in March 2004. A couple more in June and July. The nest is so difficult to spot.”

Image of nesting at top left by KC Tsang, that of the babbler in the nest (top right) is courtesy of Dr Jonathan Cheah Weng Kwong - see comment.

It was raining on and off but never too heavy. I went to the back of the house to survey the plants around the backyard. There, perching on a bare branch of my curry-leaf tree (Murraya koenigii) was a Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier). It was apparently enjoying the slight drizzle that was still on. It fluttered its body feathers, fanned out its tail and shook its body. It even raised its wings and indulged in some wet preening. It remained there for some minutes before it spotted me photographing it.

Then it flew off to a nearby kantan or torch ginger plant (Etlingera elatior) and enjoyed a leaf bath.

Leaf bathing is the term used when birds make use of the water droplets accumulated on large leaves to bathe. The water in this case came from the rain but it may well come from dew, condensed fog or even from the garden sprinkler or water hose.

Leaf bathing was first reported by L.F. Baptista. In 1971 he observed a Rufous-crowned Sparrow (Aimophila ruficeps) bathing on leaves of an eucalyptus in Berkeley, California. The leaves of the tree were covered with water droplets from a sprinkler that had been on earlier that morning. The sparrow would bend forward touching the wet leaves with the breast and belly, and flutter the wings rapidly. It continued this behavior for about three minutes, at which time its body feathers appeared quite soaked. The bird then flew to the ground beneath the tree, ruffled its feathers, preened, and scratched its head.

Locally, Serin Subaraj reported as early as November 2005 that Brown-throated Sunbird (Anthreptes malacensis) and Olive-backed Sunbird (Nectarinia jugularis) leaf bathed as soon as his grandfather finished watering the plants in the garden.

Johnny Wee has similarly observed Olive-backed Sunbird and Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum) (below left) bathing on the leaves of yellow simpoh (Dillenia suffruticosa). [NOTE: Apparently, this is a male Orange-bellied Flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma), not Scarlet-backed - see comment by Tou below.]

I myself have always witnessed sunbirds bathing on noni (Morinda citrifolia) as well as kantan leaves. They are regularly there after the rain, sometimes after the leaves become wet through watering. At one time I saw a Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) bathing on the elongated leaves of the orchid keng hua (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) after I watered the plant (above right). All these plants have large leaves that usually collect droplets of water, but I have yet to see leaf bathing on smaller leaves or a collection of smaller leaves.

I am sure other species of birds also leaf bathe and urge birders to keep a lookout and report back. If you have previously seen other birds leaf bathed, please submit your record in this blog.

Reference:
Baptista, L. F. (1972). Leaf bathing in three species of emberizines. The Wilson Bulletin 85(3): 346-347.

Image by YC except Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker by Johnny Wee.