How long does it take for a cavity nester to excavate and complete a nesting area, fitted to size, before commencing to bring forth and to propagate their species?

A few hours? A few days?

In SE Asia alone, there are 42 species of Woodpeckers (Picidae), 16 species of Barbets (Megalaimidae) and 12 species of Hornbills (Bucerotidae) that are mainly cavity nesters.

Each species has its own peculiar style in terms of size, shape and tidiness of their nesting cavities. Some have it high up on mostly dead tree trucks, some have been observed to be at eye level and many choose their temporary homes midway.

There are those who are tidy and meticulous, while others are more practical, easy going and choosing natural cavities to provide finishing touches for a quick make over.

This species, Gold-whiskered Barbet (Megalaima chrysopogon), like a tailor with chalk, was observed to peck a squarish montage before sinking her excavating beak into the middle, resulting in ‘a hole-in-square’ as seen in this image (above). The lower dead bark that was loose, eventually eroded away due to frequent perch of the bird.

The Banded Woodpecker (Picus miniaceus) took a quicker way out by choosing a stump that had its outer bark weathered or torn away, exposing a ready, fibrous foundation surface to work on (below left).

The Checker–throated Woodpecker (Picus mentalis) family observed with John and Alison Morgan showed a neatly excavated cavity to breed their two fledglings (above right).

A recent birding trip provided me the opportunity to chance a closer look of a 17-18 cm female, Blue-eared Barbet (Megalaima australis) preparing her home (below).

While the ‘3-step’ precautious approach seemed to be a common behaviour of all barbets I have observed so far, this small species that is just about a fraction bigger than his close cousin, Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala) was too busy with her duties to be found out.

I found myself just behind her…about 15 feet away.

This is when a birder is rewarded with a one to one observation, with no interference of anyone else present. No sound of sorts. Just me, Jacinta the Blue-eared Barbet witnessed by an open broadleaved, evergreen forest. My partner, DG Scope had a field day.

The observation can be briefly described below.

At 0939 hours, 6th August, a small green bird was seen perched on the side of a dead tree trunk about 10 feet above ground. It seemed distracted. My 10×42 binoculars confirmed the species to be a female sub–species duvaucelii working hard at excavating her nesting cavity.

On 8th August morning, a revisit showed she was busy bailing out wood dust with her black ivory beak. The coincidental timing of two visits could not be better as good birding luck provided the opportunity to witness the alpha and the omega of a female, Blue- eared Barbet in nest making.

There was no sign of her male partner present throughout my visits. Perhaps, he was a rouge ‘passing through’ partner like his close cousin, Sonny, the ‘Avian Cowboy’, Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala) (left).

Perhaps it was simply… “Wham Bam, goodbye Mam!”

Details of her best green jaded, breeding plumage was observed. Her long, black rictal bristles were prominently displayed. Three small, red patches on side of head were distinctive markings of her identity.

I played ‘dead wood’ and took my distance behind her in my attire that blended into the environment and kept my golden rule - being, “Whatever I do in any bird observation or follow-up digiscopy, to do it without intentionally distracting or compromising birds reproduction life cycle to just benefit myself.”

The bird’s rewarding moment came, when 1st entry was made at 1134 hours. She flew into her newly made home and shuffled to check for fitness and satisfaction.

Before Jacinta flew off, she gave a blank stare of disbelief.

A two legged looking, tree trunk was smiling back.

Did she see me?

“Look into my eyes…” said the blurry bird in the hole of this blurry image (left).

The feat of this small bird took a total of 49 hours 55 minutes.

DG Scope presenting readers the following progressive images from beginning of exposed wood (above) to first moment of entry (left).

AVIAN WRITER DAISY O’NEILL, PENANG, MALAYSIA

In the avian world, it is the law of the jungle, the survival of the fittest. The larger and stronger bird always bullies the smaller and weaker, especially where food is concerned. There are exceptions of course, where smaller (but not too small) birds can be more aggressive and attack larger but more timid birds.

Also, the mature birds are usually stronger and more experienced than the immature.

This is seen in the image sent in by Lee Tiah Khee, where an adult Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus), after an exciting aerial chase, successfully grabbed the fresh catch of a juvenile. The juvenile put up a spirited fight but ultimately experience and size got the better of the situation. The adult dominated the struggle, ending up above the juvenile, to successfully wrest the food away from the latter’s talons. So the juvenile lost its hard-earned meal, some of which plummeted to the ground, and hopefully learnt a lesson.

Note that the adult (above) has a distinct white head, neck and breast that contrast with the chestnut belly and underwings. Also, note the obvious signs of moulting primary, secondary and tail feathers.

The juvenile bird (below) shows distinctly pale primary-wing panels, dark secondaries and dark-tipped primaries.

Input and image by Lee Tiah Khee.

It was nearly 5 pm in the evening when suddenly there was a heavy drizzle. The next moment the air was filled with the sharp, loud calls of a sunbird. The call was persistent, coming from my neighbour’s bougainvillea bush. There, perching on a bare branch was a male Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis).

He was obviously enjoying the drizzle, darting here and there, fluffing his feathers, stretching his wings, fanning his tail and vigorously preening (left: top and middle).

He displayed himself by throwing his head back, puffing his chest, the better to show off his metallic blue-black frontal area (below: bottom left and rihgt). At times the edge glowed with iridescence. Calling loudly and incessantly, he was moving his head from one side to the other. Noticing a nearby leaf with droplets of rain, he darted off to soak up the drops (left bottom).

Only later when I processed the images did I notice a few more interesting points. Most times he had his long and narrow tongue projected well beyond the bill (left top). Was he trying to collect the raindrops? Also, the bright orange pectoral tufts that are usually displayed during courtship are prominent in many of the images (below:top left and right, bottom right). Some white coverts were also exposed, emerging from among the wing feathers (below: top right). The fanned tail displayed the central black-tipped feathers and white side feathers (below: bottom left and right).

With his constant movement and frequent darting, I am sure they are not as obvious through the binoculars. But then, I was armed with a camera, not a pair of binoculars.

Was the bird enjoying the heavy drizzle and having a bath, thus spreading and exposing his feathers? Including his pectoral tufts? Or was that also a courtship display, showing off to a nearby female as reported earlier by KC Tsang?

I did not see a female around him. Maybe I was not looking for one as I was then convinced that he was just enjoying the drizzle. I will keep a lookout for a female the next time.

Input and images by YC.

The recent post on birds and their reflections showcasing an Australian crow as well as a Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) and an Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) has unearthed another case of such behaviour.

Susan Wong Chor Mun reported on the anitcs of a male Ruby-cheeked Sunbird (Anthreptes singalensis) that was attracted to its own reflection from her car’s side mirror (left). The bird thought there was another male around.

“He was very fierce then. He kept pecking at the reflection of himself and vigorously jumping here and there… and then kept scratching at his own reflection again and again… he was doing such stuff for more than 30 mins.

“…He climbed to the top of the mirror, kept chirping very loudly…

“He kept pecking, scratching at his own image vigorously… jumping up and down…

“Haiyoh… if the side mirror is made of fragile glass, surely it would shatter.

“I heard of many reports of birds during their migration flights when they accidentally hit the building glass and ooops…. they die. Those are usually birds that migrate at night eg. Black-backed Kingfisher(Ceyx erithacus) and Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia).

As Veery commented on the earlier post, “such behaviour is so universal and great fun to watch.” Yes, it is fascinating, seeing so many different species behaving the same way the moment they see their reflection. If anyone has images of other species, please send them over. We will be happy to post them.

Input and images by Susan Wong Chor Mun. Her original posting is HERE.

KC Tsang was at Neo Tiew Lane on 2nd September 2007 when he came across the nest of the Peaceful Dove (Geopelia striata) (above). There was an adult in the nest together with two chicks. But what he noticed was the filth of the nest periphery, so much so that he wrote, “…this nest made of shit, bird shit. And the best thing is that it is all orderly, and properly arranged.” Tongue-in-cheek he continued, “Now the question is, how long did it take to collect all these faecal matter to build a nest, is all the faecal matter from the same two adults, is it not very unhealthy for the chicks, but looks like it is not so. Has anyone else notice this use of faecal matter as nesting material in other species of birds…?”

The Peaceful Dove constructs a very simple nest, actually a more or less flat platform of twigs. The adults take turn incubating and brooding, remaining in the nest all the time until time to change shift. Even when they are ready to discharge wastes, they do not leave the nest. They just point their posterior away from the nest and shoot.

In most cases the birds leave some mess around the nest edge (left). But not the massive wastes seen in the nest above. As KC puts it, “Propulsion unit not strong enough?” or is it because of “First generation equipment?”

Faecal wastes attract harmful organisms, from mites to bacteria. And eventually, it is the chicks that get infected.

So what do most birds do? Many take great care to remove wastes from nesting chicks via faecal sacs, as seen with Oriental White-eye (Zosterops palpebrosus), Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers (Dicaeum cruentatum) and Olive-backed Sunbirds (Cinnyris jugularis).

But not the Peaceful Dove!

I suppose unhygienic birds will produce weak chicks. And weak chicks may not breed. The net result will be the end of this line of unhygienic birds.

Input by KC Tsang and YC; images by KC (top) and YC (bottom).