Bottlebrushes (Callistemon spp.) are shrubs to small trees that were introduced to Southeast Asia from Australia. These are attractive in their colourful flowers that bunch just behind branch tips, looking like bottle brushes, thus the common name. The colours of the flowers are due to the long stamens – mostly red, but there are some that are yellow or green.

Bottlebrushes are popularly grown in gardens, parks and along roadsides in Singapore where they attract many species of birds that visit for the copious nectar that the flowers secrete.

These trees are also popularly grown in Malaysian hill stations where they attract montane birds, as the Streaked Spiderhunter (Arachnothera magna) shown at the top of the page. Other birds that commonly visit the tree include Orange-bellied Leafbird (Chloropsis hardwickii) and Fire-Breasted flowerpecker (Dicaeum ignipectus)

Image of Streaked Spiderhunter by Adrian Lim.

This post is a cooperative effort between www.naturepixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.

KC Tsang sent this comment on 2nd October 2008: “This was the first time that I have seen an adult male Tiger Shrike (Lanius tigrinus) on 28/08/2008, and this was in nearby Panti Forest, Johor (left top). However on the 
other side of Panti, which is the Kota Tinggi waterfall side, the three were all 
juveniles.



“On 01/09/2008, yesterday, the one at Singapore’s Japanese Gardens was also a juvenile.
 On 02/09/2008, at Venus Drive (left bottom), the bird was also a juvenile. 

So waiting to see if anyone of us here would be able to spot, or take
 a picture of an adult Tiger Shrike in Singapore.
”

Tiger Shrike is a winter visitor to Singapore, arriving from as early as 3rd August and as late as 30th April. So far, only juveniles have been encountered. Over in Johor, Malaysia, adult Tiger Shrikes have been seen.

Birders are always wondering how come adults do not reach Singapore?

The abundance of Malayan Water Monitors (Varanus salvator) at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve has made these lizards an added attraction.

The scavenging activities of these lizards shown earlier with a large catfish in its jaws, beg the question of how successful they are in catching resident and migratory birds. No doubt these skirmishes make for exciting encounters.

The image by Lee Tiah Khee shows a monitor lizard sneaking up on an unsuspecting wader and subsequently panicking the nearby group of foraging waders.

This post is a cooperative effort between www.naturepixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.

One of bee-eaters’ favourite food, or at least what we perceive as its favourite, is dragonflies. This is because photographers love to document these birds in the act of manipulating a dragonfly prior to swallowing it after its successful aerial chase.

The series of images by Johnny Wee, shows a Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus ) in the process of swallowing a dragonfly after it was properly thrashed against the perch. The bird expertly flipped the insect into the air. With its mandibles opened wide, the bird caught the dragonfly as it fell head-first into the bird’s throat. Once caught between the mandibles, the dragonfly was then immediately swallowed.

The series were photographed at Sungei Balang, Johor, Malaysia on 1st November 2008.

“I was on a flight back to Singapore this morning and we had a bit of a drama during the approach and landing.

“First it was an approaching thunderstorm from the South of Singapore that caused all aircraft to land from the opposite direction away from the storm. It was during this high workload period when I was changing the arrival when I heard a Japanese airline’s pilot report that he had a bird strike after take off.

“The controller was very busy rearranging the traffic for the new landing direction and probably did not understand his accent the first time round. The pilot came back with a much more urgent voice saying that he had a bird strike. A second controller came back to him and asked if there was any significant damage to the aircraft and if he could continue normal operations. After all the hoo-ha, he said they were ok and continuing on the flight and was just reporting a bird strike as required by CAAS.

“By then we had already sorted out the new arrival in the computer and we commented privately that he was lucky it was just a single bird strike and not a whole flock of birds. Flashes of pictures of greenshanks came to my mind and I remember yes… winter is here and so are the waders. A whole flock going into an engine would probably cause some serious damage.

“Just when my blood pressure and heart rate went back to normal, the controller told us to change to the adjacent runway with not much distance to go before touchdown. They said they were closing the assigned runway for inspection due to the birdstrike.

“Blood pressure went up again and here we go messing around with the computer and flying the aircraft trying to align with the next runway. And just when we were a few km from touch down. They told us to be careful of birds in the vicinity.

“I looked out and saw 3 *WBSE just in front and below the aircraft. Now I understand the Japanese pilot’s concern! Being hit by a WBSE is definitely not the same as being hit by a sparrow or myna. The birds were visibly distressed from the way they were flying and for a moment I though that another one was going to be chewed up as it soared upwards towards the aircraft. Luckily it rolled over upside down and passed under the aircraft.

“Must ask the experts about the breeding season for WBSE. Might be the juveniles in a family group that got too close to an aircraft and paid the ultimate price for it.

“Sigh….

“Any landing you can walk away from is a good one….”

Jeremy Lee
18th November 2008
0650 hours

Our Bird Specialist R Subaraj commented: “The White-bellied Sea-Eagles usually breed around February/March but young birds do stay with their parents for quite a while after fledging.”

Check out the article by Prof NS Sodhi HERE if you want to know all about bird strike.

*Image of WBSE = White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) by KC Tsang.