During the last weekend of November 2007 at Peninsular Malaysia’s Fraser’s Hill, Pamela Lim was witness to an exciting phenomenon involving the flocking of “hundreds” of Long-tailed Broadbills (Psarisomus dalhousiae). The video posted in You Tube by Tee Lian Huat mentions about 60 birds in one tree. When queried, Pamela admitted that “the hundreds were my description in excitement as I saw flock upon flock flying up from the depths to one tree. The number 60 plus is just a conservative estimate. They flew to the next tree, and then flew away. The second wave had about 30. We don’t know if it’s the same flock or not.”

The image above shows a few of the flocking birds taking a rest on the leafless branches of a tree.

Long-tailed Broadbill is a distinctive bird with a yellow face, slender green body and long blue tail. It’s high-pitched call usually announces its presence, but whether you can spot it is another matter. It usually hides among the foliage of trees.

Many broadbills are gregarious and are often seen in small flocks. They even join mixed-species flocks when these bird waves pass through their foraging areas. The Long-tailed has been reported to form noisy foraging parties of about 15 birds during non-breeding periods. In the Indian Subcontinent, as many as 40 birds have been reportedly seen together. This observation of a pure Long-tailed Broadbill bird wave of probably more than a hundred birds in Fraser’s Hill may well be a record.

According to Wells (2007): “During at least a part of the year birds also form monospecific bands whose collective movements through foliage, climbing among creepers, etc., are likely to benefit surface-snatchers by the disturbance created.” However, no number is mentioned.

References:
1. Bruce, M. D. (2003). Family Eurylaimidae (broadbills). Pp.54-93 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. eds. Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 8. Broadbills to Tapaculos. Barcelona: Lynx Editions.
2. Morten, S. (2004). Birds of Fraser’s Hill: An illustrated guide and checklist. Singapore: Nature’s Niche.
3. Wells, D.R. (2007). The birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsular. Vol. II, Passerines. Christopher Helm, London.

The “I and the Bird #63″ is now out at The Greenbelt.

BESG’s contribution is “Helpless Little Heron chick: 4. Teach the bird to fish…”.

The account is an attempt at teaching a Little Heron chick to catch live fish prior to releasing it back into the wild when its flight feathers are fully developed.

The Little Heron (Butorides striatus) chick rescued from the Bukit Timah campus, responded to handling by lunging at the perceived threat. The sudden lunge with its large and pointed bill, together with the loud keek-keek-keek was enough to intimidate any predator (above). And for some time I was intimidated. The few times it’s bill hit bull’s eye caused only a harmless poke.

As the chick grew older, it lunged with an even larger gape (above). The sudden lunging of the wide open bill, now with a larger gape accompanied by a loud scolding was an even more effective deterrent - and I can vouch for that.

Initially I was intimidated by the ferocity of the chick’s reaction. Gradually, I realised that the peck was harmless but the action still had its effect. Together with the large, flapping wings, the chick gave the appearance of being larger than it actually was (top). This, of course, is how a harmless chick deals with potential predators.

About a week later, when the bill was better developed, the bird simply lunged without and scolding. And when the bill hit its target, it was only a slight pinch rather than a poke. The image above was taken on 26th November, with the bird puffing up, neck held back and ready to lunge.

And since the early scolding, I have yet to hear a squeak from the bird, except when it was handled for ringing and weighing. And I cannot help but wonder why?

On the evening of 30th October 2007, I was alerted to the call of a Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) that regularly visit my garden. It continuously made a high pitch wit-ti-waet. Normally, they would perch on the fronds of my two tall ceram palms (Rhopaloblaste ceramica). This time the call came from another location. It was from my starfruit tree (Averrhoa carambola ) (above). Trying hard to locate it, I went under the tree and imitated the call until I located its position. The bird returned my call and continued perching where it was, even when it noticed me below, not more than a metre-and-a-half away.

About half an hour later the call was again heard. This time there was at least a pair of the Red-whiskered Bulbuls. Together with this pair were half a dozen or so Yellow-vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus goiavier).

The birds were busy moving rapidly from one branch of the tree to another, pecking at something that I thought were ants. Looking at the birds through a pair of binoculars, I soon found out that they were actually plucking flowers and flower buds off the branches and swallowing them (above: Red-whiskered left, Yellow-vented right).

All this time the Yellow-vented were not making any calls and only the flapping of their wings was heard as they moved around the crown of the tree.

This was the first time I have seen either of the bulbuls in the tree, not to mention seeing them eating the flowers and the buds.

The next afternoon I again heard the call of the Red-whiskered. This time it was alone. Again I imitated its call until I located where it was. It was perching by a bunch of flowers and actively picking and swallowing flower buds. At times it moved along the branch, pecking around its feet, no doubt picking ants. Soon, its call attracted another bird, but I was not able to see whether it was a Yellow-vented or another Red-whiskered.

The Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) can often be seen gleaning insects. And the Tanimbar Corellas (Cacatua goffini) visit the tree when it bears young fruits.

Input and images by YC.

Corvids (crows, ravens, jays, nutcrackers and magpies) exhibit the most complex play behaviour.

The Common Ravens (Corvus corax), the largest of the corvids, exhibit play catching, flight play, bathing play, vocal play, hanging, games, allospecific interactions, sliding and snow-romping.

As with most behavioural traits in birds, these are all described from the west. So far, limited play observations have been described from Asia. Brazil (2002) reported raven play in Hokkaido, Japan in winter, indulging in sliding and rolling in snow or snow-romping.

In October 2007, Lin Yangchen observed the evening play of Common Ravens on a small hill overlooking a village (4,400m a.s.l.) on the Tibetan plateau.

These include one flying like “a stealth bomber (left top), another “about to jettison a sheep’s horn” to subsequently land near where it fell on the ground (left bottom). The bird approached the horn but the presence of tourists scared it off. The birds were also gliding “in the way children race down the street on bicycles” (left middle).

He also documented them hanging from the overhead wires with one or both feet, or even by the tips of their bills, then indulging in free falls (above). The birds could even execute a 360-degree sideways roll in aerial acrobatic (below left) or indulge in “levitation” as Yangcheng aptly describes it (below right).

Input and images by Lin Yangchen.

Reference:
Brazil, Mark (2002). Common Raven Corvus corax at play; records from Japan. Ornithol. Sci. 1:150-2.