There were two reported cases of Oriental Pied Hornbills (Anthracoceros albirostris) nesting in Changi in February 2007. The female hornbill was sealing herself in the shorea cavity fron 8-21st Ferbruary while another was sealing herself in an angsana cavity from early February to the 24th. Based on the observations made in Pulau Ubin, the female would remain in the nest from 65 to 78 days. This would imply that the bird would emerge from the nests between late April and early May.

No details are available for the shorea nest but it is believed the bird broke out sometime in April and was not seen to return. As for the angsana nest, the bird was still inside on 6th April. The image above was taken on that day showing the male above the nest, behind a newly emerged leafy branch. The image below (top), taken 16 minutes later, shows the male feeding her. However, in mid-April the bird broke out of her nest. A nearby resident reported seeing her emerging from the nest and flying away. Again, she did not return to the nest. This would imply that there were no chicks to feed.

The images below show the angsana cavity ten days apart at about the same scale. Note the size of the openings - the top with the bird still inside while the bottom showing the mud seal broken. The entrance has remained unsealed.

Usually, once the chicks are big enough, the female breaks the seal, leaves the cavity and the chicks inside reseal the entrance. They would emerge a few days later. Sometimes she will emerge followed by her chicks on the same day.

The fact that the cavity was not resealed and the birds did not return means that nesting must have failed. It is possible that the eggs were infertile and failed to hatch. Apparently this appears to be relatively common in the wild population in Pulau Ubin as well as the captive birds at the Jurong Bird Park. However, unless the nest is checked, this cannot be confirmed.

These are the first two cases of hornbill nesting in Changi. These two pairs of birds must have moved from nearby Pulau Ubin to seek out new territory. It is possible that they are first timers at breeding. Hopefully, subsequent nesting will be successful and we will see more hornbills around Changi.

Images by Chan Yoke Meng.

On the morning of 15th April 2005 at about 7.40 am, as I opened my bedroom window, there was a sudden flutter of wings and something collided with the window. Thinking it was a bird-reflection affair, I drew the curtain and peeped out.

There on the lawn was a Javan Myna (Acridotheres javanicus) with a tailless gecko in its bill, eagerly trying to swallow it. Nearby was its mate, excitedly trying to see whether there was another gecko around.

The detached tail of the gecko was lying on the ground outside my window, still wriggling. But not for long. The other bird went for it, having to make do with a lesser meal.

Both called out kreep-kreep-kreep noisily or a few minutes after, hoping to catch another morsel. They left after a while, convinced that there was not another gecko around.

I was not able to identify the species of gecko the bird snatched, which was swallowed in due course. The image above is that of another specimen that has yet be encounter a myna.

On 23rd April 2007 I received a couple of interesting images from Heng Fook Hai (left). At the Changi boardwalk he noticed an Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis) flying into the hollow top portion of a palm post and emerging with what looked like a fig in its bill. Fook Hai was intrigued, and so was I.

The hollow tops of these posts are favourite nesting sites of Dollarbirds (Eurystomus orientalis). The starling was taking out fruits rather than bringing them into the hollow portion. So it was obviously raiding someone’s larder, possibly the Dollarbird’s. And Dollarbird does indulge in courtship feeding. But does the male Dollarbird places fruits inside potential nesting cavities to persuade the female to enter it and lay her eggs? Birders have yet to report on this behaviour.

However, the Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) does this regularly (1, 2, 3). The pair of female Great (Buceros bicronis ) and Rhinoceros (Buceros rhinoceros) Hornbills playing house at Eng Neo similarly indulge in the same thing. And regularly, Hill Mynas (Gracula religiosa) and Javan Mynas (Acridotheres javanicus) raid the tree cavity of food.

Subsequent images sent in by Meng and Melinda Chan helped solve the mystery. They noticed starlings flying above to swiftly dive into openings at the tops of palm posts with food in their beak. After a few minutes these birds emerged with what must be seeds for disposal. The images on the left show a bird dropping the seed into the sea below.

The birds were obviously nesting at the top of the semi-rotting posts sunk into the seabed. They were feeding their young, bringing in fruits with large seeds. It is possible that the young swallow the fruits to regurgitate the seeds and the adult then remove them. Adult starlings regularly swallow palm fruits and regurgitate the seeds.

Images by Heng Fook Hai (top two) and Chan Yoke Meng (bottom two).

Currently we have three urban scavengers – Javan Myna (Acridotheres javanicus), House Crow (Corvus splendens) and Rock Pigeon (Columba livia). Will the Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) become the fourth in the near future?

In May 2007 Joseph Lai encountered a Cattle Egret waiting on tables for food-scraps at a Makan Centre in Kranji (left). He commented: “Sad sight of a new beggar on the block. It also begs the question why there are increasing numbers of people begging in town as well as in HDB estates.”

Cattle Egret is an example of avian adaptability in a changing world. In fact it has managed to colonise all six continents of the world.

The bird used to be a common winter visitor and passage migrant in Singapore. In the 1950s and 1960s it was roaming the island, following cattle and catching insects that were disturbed by the latter. With the disappearance of cattle from our roads, the bird is still commonly seen. 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.

Now, it may have found a niche among the open-air food centres. There is always the chance that Cattle Egret may one day be a common sight competing for scrap of food in urban areas. Being a larger bird it can easily bully smaller birds in their quest for food. I have seen pigeons pecking the back of mynas when both were competing for left over scraps in an open-air café along Orchard Road.

Have you ever visited Sungei Buloh and seen the two brackish water ponds in front of the Main Hide filled with water? And at other times found that one pond has exposed mudflats while the other is completely filled with water and vice versa regardless of the tide (below)? What is the rationale for this water level regime?

The idea of managing the water levels in a wetland began with the desire to increase the number of migratory shorebirds that make use of Sungei Buloh. You see, historically and currently, Sungei Buloh acts as both a high tide roost site and a feeding ground for shorebirds but mainly as a high tide roost (top). When the tides are low across the northern coast of Singapore, these birds fly out from Sungei Buloh and forage on the tidal mudflats for polychaetes and mollusc. A few hours later when the water rolls in and submerge these mudflats at high tide, the birds need to find a roost to wait out the tides. Sungei Buloh serves to provide them this roost site within the ponds that have low water levels. And this is possible in Sungei Buloh, a forested mangrove area because of the network of existing bunds that have created ponds whose water levels can be regulated through the use of sluice channels and sluice gates (below).

Water levels in three brackish water ponds within the wetland are currently managed as a system on a fortnightly cycle generally between the shorebird migratory months of July and April. Outside of the migratory months, the water levels are generally not regulated and natural tidal influences are maintained. At no point in time are any of the three ponds mudflats submerged for more than four days (or left exposed to dry out for also more than four days). For perspective, there are five other brackish water ponds in the wetland whose water levels are not regulated at all and are subject only to natural tidal influence.

What might happen with respect to shorebirds should the water levels in all the ponds be left to natural tidal influences? The first effect would be the loss of valuable exposed mudflats for shorebirds to roost (and to a lesser degree, feed) on during high tide. These birds will have to find other areas to roost since the northern coastal flats of Singapore as well as Sungei Buloh would be submerged under water. And this will directly affect the number of shorebirds that are present (and can be observed) at Sungei Buloh during the high tide period. Should the shorebirds be unable to find alternative high tide roosts within close proximity to their feeding grounds, there is a possibility that the entire high tide roost cum feeding ground system (that is Sungei Buloh – Singapore north coast mudflats) may be abandoned for more suitable alternative systems in the region.

Tha above account and images are from the April 2007 issue of Wetlands, courtesy of the National Parks Board, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.