Johnny Wee came across a couple of White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) sunbathing at 11 am on 19th June 2007. The birds just sat quietly on the branch of a dead tree, spread their wings and soaked up the sun for about an hour (left). At that time it was sunny and windy.

Many members of the family Accipitridae to which hawks and eagles belong, spend most of their time during the day resting, in an effort to conserve energy. During these periods they just perch high up on a tree branch, sometimes on one leg, with the other drawn close to the belly. They may also indulge on preening. But they just sit and wait for an opportunity to pounce on a prey.

These raptors occasionally sunbathe in the early morning, spreading their wings to get the full benefit of the sun’s rays. After a rain storm they often spread their wings to be blown dry by the wind. These activities are usually done on a high, exposed perch. Any tall trees will do. In the rainforest they usually do so on the branches of emergent dead trees.

Reference:
Thiollay, J. M. (1994). Family Accipitridae (Hawks and Eagles). Pp. 52-205 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. eds. Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 2. New world vultures to guineafowl. Barcelona: Lynx Editions.

Terrestrial or land invertebrates (animals without backbones) are favourite food for many birds. Insects and spiders are regularly taken, as well as molluscs. Centipedes are also food for birds, especially the smaller species. Larger tropical centipedes are another matter (above). Some have the ability to kill lizards, toads, mice and nestling birds. And even bats. What makes centipedes dangerous is the presence of a pair of sharp, poison claws found just behind the head. The bigger species thus need special handling by birds that use them for food. Just like bees, that mainly bee-eaters are capable of dealing with.

Centipedes have a soft, segmented body with a pair of legs attached to each segment. Unlike millipedes that are armour-plated, slow moving and vegetarians, centipedes are carnivorous and fast moving. They are found in damp places and usually emerge under cover of darkness (nocturnal) to hunt soil-living invertebrates like insects, earthworms and snails.

In June 2007, Banard Lau encountered a Rufous-browed Flycatcher (Ficedula solitaris) catching a centipede in Frasers Hill, Malaysia and bringing it to feed its young… (see images below).

“I walked about 50 metres away from the first site where the Rufous-browed Flycatcher was observed bringing the centipede to feed its young. At the second site where I was actually waiting for the Lesser Shortwing (Brachypteryx leucophrys) to make an appearance, I noticed a movement on the embankment not 10 feet away from me. Walking closer to about a distance of about six feet, there was this flycatcher waiting patiently on a branch and fluttering to the ground several times. There was a rotting log of 8-10 inches diameter there - in the bushes by the embankment next to the path on Hemmant’s trail.

“Wow, I thought, another Rufous-browed Flycatcher’s nest. I must have waited for about five minutes, during which time the bird made several forays from its perch to the ground and back to its perch - all very quickly. I thought that it was careful not to show me its nest. Next it flew down swiftly to the ground and caught a little centipede and flew to an open clearing about 10 feet away.

“The bird began to peck the head, dropped the centipede, observed it for some time. The centipede was wriggling - so the bird kept on pecking the centipede a few more times on the head or the body. Finally, satisfied that the centipede was sufficiently immobilised, the flowerpecker picked it up and flew back in the general direction to its nest.

“If there were two chicks in the nest, then each must have had a lovely lunch of the centipede.”

Another account was by Chan Ah Lak who wrote: “Even raptors will not pass up a centipede I observed one Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela) swooping down on a logging track in Belum and then landing on a branch to eat what it had caught. By the time I got my gear ready, only a small morsel was left but it could be identified positively as part of a red giant centipede. If I remember correctly, Choo Eng had a shot of a Blue-winged Pitta (Pitta moluccensis ) with a small centipede (left).

Yes, Tan Choo Eng did manage to witness a Blue-winged Pitta catching a centipede: “Between May to September 2006, a few Blue Winged Pittas were observed nesting at Kulim, Kedah. The feed for the nestlings and fledglings were predominantly earthworms, except on one occasion it was a mole cricket and another, a centipede.”

Choo Eng continues: “Between October 2006 and February 2007, a Common Hoopoe (Upupa epops), a vagrant, visited Juru in mainland Penang. It usually foraged on the ground as its main diet would be larvae and pupae, probably of some dung beetles. But one occasion it caught a centipede and stabbed it a few times before consuming it.”

Yong Ding Li, a new breed of enthusiastic Singapore birder chipped in: “Centipedes are rather nutritious morsels, I guess and birds would go through great lengths to get hold of it. Once I saw at Panti, Johor, a Chestnut-rumped Babbler (Stachyris maculata) fighting with a foot long Scolopendra centipede on the ground. The bird kept pecking the centipede at the rear, flying up a bush when the centipede struck. After 10 minutes it gave up and flew off with the rest of the flock. I also noted a few other encounters of birds taking centipedes.

The last word came from Tou Jing Yi, another Malaysian birder: “I think the commonest known bird that often eats centipedes is the Domestic Fowl. I have not heard or seen a wild junglefowl eating it, but anyway I think it should be eating centipedes. ‘Chicken fighting centipede’ is a common Chinese believe, there are also Chinese medicinal records claiming that the saliva of the fowl can disable the poison of the centipedes, so the chicken’s saliva is often used to apply on the wound of a centipede bite.”

Images by Banard Lau (Rufous-browed Flycatcher), Tan Choo Eng (Common Hoopoe), Ooi Beng Yean (Blue-winged Pitta) and YC (centipede). KC Tsang helped gather all the information as well as obtained the permission of the Malaysian birders to use their images.

Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis) is an attractive bird with its golden-yellow plumage and prominent black band across the eyes (left). But how many people are aware that this beautiful bird has an aggressive nature, especially in its habit of destroying the nests of smaller birds?

Hails (1987) did report seeing the oriole being chased by other birds during the breeding season. And he suspects that it may rob the nests of smaller birds.

Prof Tan Teck Koon, a non-birder, was made painfully aware of this fact when he witnessed such attacks in the privacy of his home. A pair of sunbirds regularly builds their nests within the confines of his garden. The presence of Teck Koon’s family members doing their daily chores did nothing to discourage the nest building. Being a mushroom watcher and not a bird watcher, Teck Koon is not able to identify the species of sunbird, but he knows a sunbird when he sees one. And he recognises the typical elongated, pouch-like nest with a long beard (below).

These birds have been trying to breed in his garden for a number of times now. Unfortunately, each time after the nest had been built and the eggs laid, the nest would be raided.

He knows a raid is imminent when he hears the sharp, loud whistle of the Black-naped Oriole perched in a nearby tree. Then suddenly, the oriole will strike the nest, destroying it totally and splattering the eggs on the ground. The incubating bird would have escaped just before that raid.

Whether the oriole raids the nest for the eggs or just to destroy it, he is unable to say. But he has witnessed these raids three to four times. He even once tried to shoo off the oriole but without success.

Images by YC.

Reference
Hails, Christopher (1987). Birds of Singapore. Times Editions, Singapore.

On 15th June 2007 Johnny Wee had the good fortune to observe and document on memory card the first flight of a young White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster). The nest was a huge pile of sticks firmly wedged between the fork of a tall albizia tree (Paraserianthes falcataria). The single chick was ready to fledge and standing on the nest unsure of itself. A parent bird was on a nearby branch, watching, urging and encouraging (left). The other was also around, just as vigilant. The young eagle walked out of its nest on to a branch and looked around hesitantly (below left). The parents continued to watch silently, flying to and fro but never too near the young one. The youngster surveyed the surrounding and prepared to lunge by moving up to a higher branch where it could make its first flight (below right).

Slowly raising its wings, it finally plunged into the empty space below, taking off in its maiden flight (below). It was a success, landing some distance away in another tree, with the two adults following. The entire process took about five minutes.

The first plunge into flight is never easy for a chick about to leave the safety of the nest. But leave it must. The parents will see to it. They will refrain from feeding it, perching nearby with food to induce the chick to leave the nest. Hunger usually does the trick and eventually the chick will make the first plunge. It may land below the nest but once it gains confidence, the fledgling will slowly take longer and longer flights. And eventually it will become independent…

The Bird Ecology Study Group weblog logs 100,000 hits today. We started blogging exactly two years ago. The growth in readership during the first year was slow but steady. It was during the latter part of the second year that readership suddenly increased, with 300 or more hits a day. And readers are not confined to Singapore, or even the region. Our readers come from countries around the world.

The image on the left shows our earliest posting in July 2005. So far, we have about 450 posts under 32 categories of bird ecology and behaviour. Mostly, these have been local observations. However, we have slowly moved from localised to regional observations.

Our main aim has always been to encourage Singapore birders to study birds, not just look at them. And we are succeeding, as can be seen in the many e-forums where lists of birds are peppered with notes on behaviour, etc. A secondary aim is to encourage birders to share their observations. To this end, posting in the weblog makes information available almost immediately to anyone around the world.

The blog has definitely proved to be a useful resource on bird behaviour and ecology.

We would not have been this successful if not for the many contributors, who contacted us directly or indirectly, with their suggestions, observations, stories and of course images. The success of the weblog is a tribute to the unstinting generosity of these birders and photographers, as well as nature lovers, many of whom are neither ardent birders nor serious photographers. Without their contributions, we would not be able to post so many blogs and reach this magic number of 100,000.

Our special thanks go to Jacqueline Lau (right), who helped upgrade the blog from the old format (top) to what it is now. She single-handedly transferred all the archives to the new site. This weblog is being generously hosted in her server.

Thank you very much, one and all. Here’s to the next 100,000 hits.