On 18th October 2008, photographers had a field day at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve when a Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) was spotted among a flock of Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) by Robert Teo, among others. This is an uncommon non-breeding winter visitor and passage migrant that begins to arrive as early as 24th August till 22nd March.

This curlew is one of the largest of the waders and has an exceptionally long and decurved bill. According to Gils & Wiersma (1996), a curved bill results in a great reduction in the size of the tongue. So the bird has to remove prey from the substrate before swallowing it. The prey is transported to the mouth by “head-jerking and a coordinated opening and shutting of the mandibles”.

On the other hand, a long, straight bill of the snipe and woodcock with an open bill cavity and long tongue enables the bird to transport prey inside the bill while it is still inserted in the substrate.

Generally, “shorebirds species that predominantly forage by probing in small holes and crevices have the most curved bills, whereas species that probe in the firmest substrate will have relatively straight bills.”

It is interesting to know that different people observe different things when encountering birds in the field. In this case, most birdwatchers simply saw a Eurasian Curlew among the other waders. But Ben Lee was impressed by the larger size of the curlew as compared to the Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus).

Then we have Jacqueline Lau who commented: “One observation of interest was that it had a tendency to act rather aggressively towards the Whimbrels (it’ll snap at them if they came near), but tolerated the greenshanks even when the smaller waders had it 
surrounded in close proximity.
”

Image by Jacqueline Lau.

Reference:
Gils, van J. & P. Wiersma, 1996. Family Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes and Phalaropes. In del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (eds.), Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 3. Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Editions, Barcelona. Pp. 444-533.

Meibao sent in this note and the image above:

“I was lucky enough to see a monitor lizard with a very very fresh-looking catfish in its jaws during low tide. (At the main bridge just outside the main hide.)

“Suspect it just got lucky and managed to get a catfish that got stranded when the tide receded. But it went off with the fish when it realised it had a big group of spectators, so didn’t manage to watch it feed.

“The last time I came across a feeding monitor lizard, the stench of the rotting fish was very obvious. And it “re-aligned” the fish and swallowed it in one gulp.”

The population of the Malayan Water Monitor (Varanus salvator) in the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve has increased so much that you see them everywhere. But seeing one with a large catfish in its jaws must be an exciting occasion. More exciting than seeing birds, I presume.

Obviously, there are more than birds at the reserve…. Crocs, Smooth Otter and more.

Dr. Redzlan Abdul Rahman photographed a male Common Flameback (Dinopium javanense) perching on a rotten tree trunk probing for the larvae of wood-boring insects (above left). Because the trunk is rotten and pieces had broken off, when the bird started probing, his tongue could clearly be seen emerging from the other end of the tunnel (above right).

The woodpecker’s tongue is its most important tool when probing for larvae. It is extremely long, has specialised muscles that enable the bird to extend and retract it with ease, and the tip is covered with backward-pointing barbs. At the same time there are glands that secrete a sticky fluid. All these adaptations allow the bird to locate larvae hidden inside rotten wood and once located, to extract them.

Reference:
Short, L. L. & J. F. M. Horne, 2002. Family Capitonidae (Barbets). In: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (eds.), Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 7. Jacamars to Woodpeckers. Lynx Editions, Barcelona. Pp. 140-219.

A post on eyelashes in birds way back in March 2007 brought a comment by Nardia Thompson recently:

“I can tell you for a fact that there are several different types of birds that have eyelashes. When I was a tot we went to a petting zoo. Atop a pile of rocks was a solid black bird with a very long black beak. This bird had “showgirl” eyelashes. I noticed them from afar. I asked the keeper if I could pet the bird and he said “You can try…” and to a kid that sounds like “Sure! Go ahead!” I climbed the pile of rocks and had a good look at the bird and petted him. The eyelashes were unbelievably thick and long. This raised a number of questions in my young mind because I had never seen a bird with eyelashes before (not that I had noticed anyway) and I wasn’t sure they were even real. This made me wonder ‘Just how bored does a petting zoo keeper have to get to glue eyelashes on a bird, and what sort of glue did he use?’

“Ever since I have been on a quest to find out exactly WHAT these eyelashes were (are they the same as hairs? What makes them different from hair exactly, etc.) and what they were for. The keeper told me that the bird was probably from Africa, but he wasn’t sure. I have never seen this bird pictured anywhere and would love to know what kind of bird it was. I am so glad that I am not the only person who has noticed eyelashes on birds.”

Forest Ang had an encounter with a rescued Plain-pouched Hornbill (Rhyticeros subruficollis) in Malaysia recently. Of the many images he submitted, one shows the long eyelashes of this hornbill as showcased above.

These eyelashes are highly specialised contour feathers where the rachis or feather shaft lacks barbs. Such bristles are found at the base of the bill. Ornithologists term these rictal bristles. And rictal bristles are seen in many species of birds that catch insects, like nightjars, flycatchers, owls, swallows and hawks.

There appears to be consensus that these eyelashes protect the eyes from flying insects and other debris, especially when the bird catches large scaly insects like butterflies and moths. Rictal bristles also help the bird to detect movements of insects held in the bill, just like the whiskers of some mammals.

Image by Forest Ang.

My first encounter with Australian birds some years ago was of shear fascination of names the birds are being known to be called.

Bird field guide books have names to substantiate their apt description, be it their behaviour, bird calls or simply in anatomical description, habitat or their eating habits.

Readers would rightly have guessed who they are, by mere hearing or be looking at by the mention of Catbird, Butcherbird, Lyrebird, Riflebird, Cicadabird, Bellbird, Bowerbird, Friarbird, Logrunner, Frogmouth, Apostle bird, Pink-eared Duck, Spoonbill, Oystercatcher, Chiming Wedgebill, the ubiquitous Laughing Kookaburra and quaint names like Hardhead, Thick-knee, Diamond Firetail, etc.. from an impressive and updated full checklist of close to 900 bird species in Australia.

Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys), a species belonging to the Rhipidura family of fantails is the chosen species of good description in behaviour for being the most co-operative and easily seen bird to be featured for this write up (above).

Being restless and always on the move, either to hawk for insects on the ground or frolicking during their breeding season, Willie would sway its black plumaged body and tail side to side when standing still (above).

This movement behaviour differs from other bird species that usually cork their tails and fan them in an up, down movement.

Another interesting feature of the Willie Wagtail is the black and white plumage on the throat and breast that forms a breast-band, is arched like a rainbow-a reversal of other smaller fantail species (below left).

The image (above centre) shows Chinese opera looking slit, white eye brows or supercilium. They apparently vary in size with level of excitement. I am yet to check this observation out the next visit. The primaries have brown highlights that shimmer when sunrays hit at the right angle.

Perching at 19-22cm in size, with a lively and musical chattering call, this black and white bird with total black feet has an innate look as captured in image above (rignt) is known to exhibit aggressive behaviour towards other birds.

AVIAN WRITER DAISY O’NEILL PENANG MALAYSIA
© ‘WILLIE’ THE WAGTAIL