Lee Tiah Khee photographed a Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus) in the act of swallowing a dragonfly earlier this year. “It took less than two seconds to swallow it.”

According to our bird specialist R Subaraj, who is also into dragonflies: “Based on the colouration, the shape of the abdomen, the reddish tinge in the wing and the brown patch at the base of the hindwing, I would lean toward the dragonfly being a male Tramea transmarina.

“In Singapore, this is a fairly common dragonfly of open country areas, including grasslands.”

Bee-eaters have been documented catching and eating dragonflies. This is probably one of its favourite food. Photographers love to document the bee-eater handling dragonflies as these insects are large, colourful and make excellent subjects.

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

Ng Kiah Hwa a.k.a. hawkeyes is sharing with us sequential shots of the Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus) landing on a perch taken in Penang, Malaysia on 14th December 2008. The image above shows the bird approaching the landing spot.

The above images, from top left and clockwise: Slowing down and preparing to land; touch down; retracting its landing gears; and a successful landing.

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

“On January 11th, 2009, while observing birds on Pulau Semakau, I noticed a harrier in the distance. It was hunting low over the grassland. Soon, I was able to obtain a much closer view and the plumage was distinctive; a male *Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) (left top). This is quite a rare migrant to Singapore. This autumn, there had been at least one other bird at Changi between October – December.

“Suddenly, a Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus) came out of nowhere and started mobbing the harrier (left bottom). The harrier dived for cover, into the tall grass. After a few seconds, the kite flew into a clump of trees.

“The Black-winged Kite is our only resident raptor that specialises on hunting over grasslands. They do so by hovering over a particular area for a few seconds, before flying a short distance to repeat the hovering watch again. If a prey item is spotted, the kite will swoop in for the kill. They prey on small rodents, reptiles and birds.

“During the northern winter period, certain migratory raptors turn up that are also grassland specialists. These include the harriers and kestrels. Hence, during this time of the year, the resident kites face competition, for food, within their territories.

“As none of the Black-winged Kite’s grassland habitats are protected in Singapore, this resident bird-of-prey has to cope, each year, with the loss of temporary homes. As long as reclamation continues, the kite will find new temporary homes at places like Changi, Tuas and even Pulau Semakau. This cannot and should not continue though, as reclamation also means the loss of marine habitats, especially our inter-tidal areas. How do we ensure that the Black-winged Kite and many other grassland bird species, both resident and migrant, continue to survive in Singapore? How do we provide man-made environments, like grasslands, without it being at the expense of habitats of greater biodiversity?”

Subaraj Rajathurai
13th January 2009

*Please see HERE.

S K Foo was at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in November 2008 when he found out exactly what the waders did when it started to rain.

“It was a wet day at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve yesterday. So just how wet was it? Very wet… These birds were standing on a patch of land. As the tide rises, accompanied by heavy rainfall, these birds soon found themselves surrounded by the rising water.

“When the land started to submerge under water, the birds started flying to higher ground. This gave me the opportunity for some flight shots.

“Eventually, when all the birds could not take the rising water any longer, they flee.”

Jimmy Tan a.k.a. skylark was in Malaysia’s Fraser’s Hill in December 2008 and documented a Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush (Garrulax mitratus) tackling an atlas moth (Attacus atlas).

“I was at Jelai in Fraser’s Hill and witnessed this bird making a meal of a struggling Atlas Moth. The laughingthrush took its time as it literally ate the moth alive. The moth was struggling to get away to no avail. No prize for guessing who won the battle.”

According to Wells (2007), the animal foods of the Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush is little known. However, “around mountain-top communications installations local residents emerge daily to take insects stranded after being attracted to floodlights.” This would imply that moths would be a regular source of food - except that birdwatchers have not reported this, leaving it to a bird photographer to do the documentation.

Allen (1953) reported an adult bringing a caterpillar to a nestling.

Image by Jimmy Tan.

References:
1. Allen, F. G. H., 1953. Further notes on birds nesting at Fraser’s Hill. Malayan Nature Journal 8: 16-22.
2. Wells, D.R., 2007. The birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsular. Vol. II, Passerines. Christopher Helm, London. 800 pp.

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.