An earlier post describes how an adult Banded Woodpecker (Picus miniaceus) collected ants from an umbrella tree (Schefflera actinophylla) to feed its recently fledged chick.

The woodpecker was back recently (left). I am not sure whether it was the earlier adult or the grown up fledgling that returned on the morning of 11th September 2007. It was a cloudy morning, the sky appearing threatening. But there was no rain.

I detected movements in the umbrella tree. It was the woodpecker, busy harvesting ants from the narrow, elongated leaf stipules that provide shelters to ants.

Perching on the leaf stalk, the bird poked its pointed bill under the sides of the stipules to get at the ants (below, arrowed). It was doing this for about half an hour, moving up and down the branches.

Once satisfied with all the ants it consumed, the bird flew to a nearby tree and rested comfortable on an exposed branch. Then it began to preen itself (below). First it preened its breast feathers, then the wings, before attending to its feet. It then took care of the tail feathers and in the process, no doubt got oil from the preen gland to apply to the feathers. Oil from the preen gland helps make the feathers last longer.

Feathers on the head are preened with the help of its feet. The bird rubs oil on its feet with the bill and then scratches its head. However, I did not observe this.

Input and images by YC.

Butterflies and their caterpillars are regular a food for birds. The former are usually caught and their wings removed as they are thrashed left and right or by hitting them against a branch. Caterpillars, on the other hand, are handled differently. The larger ones are moved through the bill to remove their gut contents. Hairy caterpillars are thrashed on the branch, again to remove the gut contents. Apparently, the irritating hairs are swallowed with the de-gutted caterpillars.

Most of the caterpillars caught on film appear to be green. But what about the colourful caterpillars?

In August last year, I found a clutch of caterpillars munching the leaves of the mistletoe plant (Dendrophthoe pentandra), a semi-parasitic plant growing on my Arabian jasmine (Jasminum sambac). These caterpillars were gregarious, feeding from the undersurface of the leaf as a group. From above you could only see the row of black heads munching close together (below left).

These were the caterpillars of the Painted Jezebel (Delias hyparete metarete), an attractive and common garden butterfly.

The caterpillars began as tiny, 2 mm long creatures. As they increased rapidly in size, they turned from light orange to a darker shade of orange. And their size finally increased to about 25 mm (left).

After feeding for about 13 days, they totally defoliated the mistletoe, leaving only the bare branches. Nowhere to hide, they grouped all along a single bare twig, conspicuous in their gaudy orange (below middle).

The caterpillars were then large, fat and succulent. And they would have made hefty meals to any birds that fly past. After all, caterpillars are a favourite food of birds.

Yet, of the 21 caterpillars that hatched out from the clutch of eggs, 19 survived to pupate. The two that did not reach this stage were not victims of bird predation.

It was only later that I realized why these orange caterpillars were spared from being bird food. Their bright colour should have been a clue. Butterflies, as well as their caterpillars, advertise their poisonous nature or their non-palatability with gaudy colours. And this was exactly what the Painted Jezebel caterpillars did.

Some mistletoe plants are reputed to contain narcotic properties that are transferred to the caterpillars that feed on it. The chemicals are then passed on to the adult butterflies. The fact that the butterflies are colourful probably attest to their poisonous nature (above right).

Input and images by YC.

Most birds will try their best to distract potential predators from their nests, usually by feigning injury as seen with the Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier) and Large-tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus). The Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis) has its very own strategy.

Others birds will actively attack intruders and the Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) is one of these (above). In an encounter by Chan Yoke Meng at a locations where nesting was earlier documented, the pair of concerned parents was fiercely protective of their recently fledged chick.

Both the adults were seen actively chasing away different species of birds that came too near the nesting tree.

These birds included Tanimbar Corella (Cacatua goffini) (above: top right), Javan Myna (Acridotheres javanicus) (above: top left), Spotted Wood Owl (Strix seloputo) (above: bottom left) and even the large Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) (above: bottom right) that flew by.

However, these kingfishers would not attack larger birds like hornbills.

I wonder whether they would attack birders and photographers who come too near their nest? Like in the case of the House Crow (Corvus splendens).

Input by Chan Yoke Meng, images by Yoke Meng (owl), Johnny Wee (heron) and YC (others).

On 18th September 2007, KC Tsang wrote: “I was at Upper Seletar this morning, and a flock of screaming Hill Mynas (Gracula religiosa) descended on a bare tree. There were about 15 of them, so wondering what the commotion was about, went nearer to the flock.

“Found that one of them had an egg between its bill, managed to take a picture of it, the bird with egg is at the top left hand corner (above, arrow). And the next moment the myna lost the egg, the second picture shows the egg falling down, in the middle of the picture (below, arrow).

“Whose egg was it? And why did the rest of the Hill Mynas got so
excited about this Hill Myna having stolen an egg. Also, the egg was a bit too big for it to swallow…”

Hill Mynas are omnivorous. There have been records of them taking figs, swarming termites, large insects, lizards and even a snake. But I have not been able to locate any report of the bird raiding nests to take the eggs.

Can this be the first record?

According to R Subaraj, our bird specialist, there is no reason why Hill Myna should not raid nests for the eggs. The fact that there is no recorded observations does not mean that this myna does not indulge in such an activitiy.

Input and images by KC Tsang.

PS: Just before posting, these thoughts came to me: Did the bird intentionally let go of the egg to break it? Did it fly down to feast on the contents? Are Hill Myna intelligent enough to do this? YC

A Striped Tit Babbler (Macronous gularis) was recently seen taking a leaf bath after a slight shower during a hot day along Venus Drive (left).

We have earlier documented the Olive-backed Sunbird (Nectarinia jugularis) taking a leaf bath as well as other species like Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier), Orange-bellied Flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma) and Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius).

All these are smallish birds. I suppose small birds easily fit into leaves that have droplets of water. They are always a joy to watch, fluffing their feathers as they soak up the few raindrops or even droplets from a garden hose.

We would be happy to post images or sightings of other species taking leaf baths.

Input and images by Johnny Wee.