On 13th December 2007 a large raptor, thought to be an eagle, paid a visit to the office of the Director, Singapore Botanic Gardens in Holttum Hall. Dr Chin See Chung was not in at that time and it was just as well as the bird came in by way of the window.

It crashed on the window, breaking one of the glass panels (left). The glass pieces landed inside the room but the bird landed outside. Those who witnessed the crash reported that the bird was huge, some 60 cm long. It was not seriously injured and managed to recover, to fly away soon after.

Dr Chin consulted Teo Chan Seng who thought that it could be a White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) (left top). Morten Strange confirms that it may be so as this sea eagle, mainly the juvenile, occurs in the Gardens. However, Morten believes that it could also be a Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) (left bottom), a bird that is often confused with the sea-eagle.

As Morten adds, “There are many reports of birds flying into glass windows, mainly because they are disorientated or simply think they can pass thru. (More rarely, they might attack a ‘rival’ = their own reflection). We have had Long-tailed Parakeets (Psittacula longicauda) flying into our display windows on several occasions, they are stunned, but they don’t die.

“What is absolutely weird in this case is that the window broke, I cannot recall another case like this, the impact must have been tremendous! It is a wonder the bird didn’t get fatally injured, it would have been great to have a picture of it, but better still that it got up and was able to fly away of course …!”

Image of window courtesy Dr Chin, sea eagle by KC Tsang and kite by John Arifin.

In November 2007, Johnny Wee encountered an Oriental Honey-buzzard (Pernis ptilorhyncus) at the Japanese Garden in Jurong eating what looked like a piece of honeycomb (left).

On closer examination of the images, the structure the buzzard is grasping looks like the small nest of the paper wasp (Polistes sp.) (below).

This is a social wasp that builds a small, inconspicuous nest often attached by a tough stalk to twigs or the under-surfaces of a roof or overhanging structure. On this stalk the wasp constructs her first hexagonal cell of papery material with the opening facing down. She then adds cells around this in concentric circles. Other females join in building the colony and together with a few males, form the small colony.

Once the cells are deep enough, the females lay their eggs and when they are hatched the developing larvae are fed pellets of chewed caterpillars. Once fully grown, the cells are capped with papery materials.

Honey Buzzards often attack large colonies of bees to get at the honeycombs for the honey as well as the larvae. This is a record of a buzzard taking a small nest of the paper wasp.

Worldwide, there are a total of 54 species of hornbills. Of these 13 have been recorded in Thailand (above). The panel below shows the Great (top left), Wreathed (top right) and White-crowned (bottom left), all vulnerable; while the Helmeted (bottom right) is endangered.

The Rhinoceros (below left) and Wrinkled (below right) are both also endangered. [Correction: below right should be Wreathed, which is vulnerable. Thanks Ding Li for the correction.]

The Bushy-crested (below right) is vulnerable. In fact all the species except Oriental Pied Hornbill (below left) which is common, are in one way or other need protection. The Black Hornbill is the most threatened, with a status of threatened-extinct.

In an effort at conserving these magnificent birds, Dr Pilai Poonswad formed the Hornbill Research Foundation in 1993. Based in the Science Faculty of Mahidol University, the Foundation initiated a series of research projects on the ecology of these birds.

Those who are concerned about the survival of Thailand’s hornbills can adopt a family of these birds at only US$120. This money will go towards getting the villagers involved in the conservation of these birds (left). Previously, these rural folks regularly collected hornbill chicks to sell, to supplement their meagre income. Now that they are involved in the conservation of the birds, the villagers are paid a small sum to collect data and to protect the birds against poachers.

Log in to the website of the Hornbill Research Foundation to learn more and to adopt a family of birds.

Input from Hornbill Research Foundation; images courtesy of Dr Pilai Poonswad except Oriental Pied by YC.

The Chestnut-winged Cuckoo (Clamator coromandus) is one of the more beautiful among the many cuckoos. The adult is a sight to behold and will no doubt excite the most hardener birders. What more is its impact on birders new to the scene.

The adult has a back of metallic glossy black, a white nape, chestnut wings, black tail, rufous throat, white belly and dark vent. Not forgetting the presence of the fabulous dark black crest.

In April 2007 the cuckoo actually came knocking on the window pane of Richard Hale’s apartment at Dairy Farm Road. It was in fact confronting its reflection on the window pane (1, 2).

Well, in mid-November 2007, Meng and Melinda Chan scoured the Dairy Farm area looking for this cuckoo. They had the good fortune to spot one taking a well-earned rest high up on a branch of a tree. The bird was extremely shy, hiding high among the foliage of the tree crown. They even succeeded in bringing home a few portrait shots of this beautiful bird (top).

At one point a Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis) appeared nearby, landing on a higher nearby branch. The cuckoo nervously looked up and immediately flew higher up the tree.

The Chestnut-winged Cuckoo breeds in the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, South China, Indochina to SW Thailand. It migrates south to parts of Asia and Southeast Asia during winter, reaching Singapore as an uncommon winter visitor and passage migrant. If you work hard enough, you can still catch a glimpse of this beautiful bird as it arrives as early as 30th September to leave as late as 28th April.

Like many cuckoos, the Chestnut-winged is a brood-parasite, laying its eggs mainly in the nests of laughingthrushes (Garrulax spp.).

The Little Heron (Butorides striatus) has grown after nearly two weeks of care and feeding. Of late, the bird was seen preening its feathers. Under normal conditions the parents would have seen to this as long as the chick is in the nest.

Dr Gloria Chay suggested that I place a basin of water inside the cage to allow the bird to bathe and thereby waterproof itself. Well, on 25th November 2007 I did just that.

The bird was then actively preening its feathers while on the perch. When the basin of clean water was placed inside the cage, it sat quietly on the perch looking at the water. It then got excited, moving around from the perch to basin rim and back again, flapping its wings. It then drank from the basin, poking its bill regularly into the water.

Then suddenly, it entered the water and sat in the basin (left). And just as suddenly, it began to soak itself, shaking vigorously, splashing water all over the cage. In the process all the feathers became wet. It stayed in the water for less than five minutes, enjoying its bath before moving out.

Once out of the water it shook itself to get rid of excess water and moved to the perch with wings flapping. It remained on the perch with wings extended, preening for the next five minutes. With wings still slightly extended, it indulged in wing-leg stretching for the next ten minutes, with neck and breast feathers fluffed.

This was its first bath after nearly two weeks since the bird was picked up. My, was the bath water dirty. Subsequently I tried to encourage it to bathe but without success.