Chinese Pond Heron (Ardeola bacchus) is reported to eat small frogs, aquatic invertebrates, fish, molluscs, terrestrial insects and worms.

Daniel Chia photographed the heron catching an earthworm from the field along Port Road, just outside Carpark C of Singapore’s Labrador Nature Reserve.

Picking up the worm from the damp ground was not a problem. Trying to pass it down its long bill for swallowing was. Worms are slippery and the heron had quite a time trying to swallow it. As soon as the worm reached the end of the bill, it wriggled out as apparently there may be less of a grip there than at the bill tip. Persistency prevailed and after many attempts, the heron finally managed to swallow the worm.

“While on the way back to Singapore from Bukit Tinggi, at the entrance of Zoo Negara, Kuala Lumpur, we came across Milky (Mycteria cinerea) and Painted Storks (Mycteria leucocephala) (left), all perched on the lamp posts.

“Some of the lamp posts had up to three birds and some only single birds. I believe some of these birds were released by the Malaysians, and some of them could have flown up from Singapore, we will never know.

“However it was quite a sight having these big birds right in the heart of town, along a very busy thoroughfare.”

Report by K C Tsang
Picture by Willi Kwek

Yong Ding Li has this to add: “Interestingly all the painted and milky storks seen in Singapore and South Johor are most probably free-ranging birds from the Singapore Zoo (I have a newspaper cutting of these birds in Johor from a New Straits Times in the late 1990s). There is a second population of these free ranging birds in KL’s Zoo Negara but i dont think those came this far south. As far as milky storks are concerned at least, we cannot say with any certainty that they are of wild origin as there are free-ranging flocks at our Zoo. In Peninsular Malaysia, the only true wild Milky Stork is a declining flock of now less than 10 birds at the Matang Larut Mangrove Forest at Perak near Port Weld. The nearest colony to Singapore is either this or another colony on the east Sumatra coast in Jambi/Riau (but I doubt these wander over since there is extensive mudflat to forage on the Sumatra east coast)”

In late March 2009, Abiel Neo noticed an Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) loitering around The Springside, his residential apartment located near Singapore’s Upper Seletar.

This must be the same bird seen earlier around nearby Transit Road.

“A lone male has been observed frequenting The Springside estate near Upper Seletar. It has a curious habit of travelling down each parallel street looking for food in a sequential and organised way. The main food observed is the very large grasshopper.”

The above images by Abiel Neo show the hornbill manipulating a grasshopper prior to swallowing it (from top left, clockwise).

Adrian Lim a.k.a. wmw998 photographed a pair of Orange-breasted Trogon (Harpactes oreskios) in February 2009 in Malaysia. The birds were caught in the act of copulation.

Knowledge of the breeding habits of trogons is limited. They are cavity nesters, using decaying trunks or stumps of trees or holes in nests of social insects, especially termite mounds. They excavate the cavities, sometimes taking several months to complete.

Collar (2001) gives an account of a pair of courting Elegant Trogons (Trogon elegans) thus: “…copulation takes the form of the male flying initially to within 3-5 m of the female, giving the ‘cocococo…’ courtship song, and then flying directly to her, hovering above her two seconds, taking her nape in his bill, and landing on her back while she lifts her tail up, the male then swings his tail smoothly from side to side for cloacal contact, then pumps it up and down beneath the female’s while fluttering his wings.”

Reference:
Collar, N. J., 2001. Family Trogonidae (Trogons). In: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (eds.) (2001). Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 6. Mousebirds to Hornbills. Lynx Editions, Barcelona. Pp. 80-127.

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

Calvin Chang a.k.a. deswitch documented a Grey-throated Babbler (Stachyris nigriceps) catching and eating what looks like a moth at Malaysia’s Bukit Tinggi in March 2009.

According to Calvin, the babbler finished its food within 3 frames of his 8fps camera – extremely fast indeed.

The Grey-throated Babbler is a resident to Malaysia. According to Wells (2007), “Apart from an instance of apparent courtship feeding with a small fruit or flower-parts, food is assumed to be small invertebrates. Items brought to nestlings were all insects.”

Collar & Robson (2007) report that this babbler feeds almost entirely on insects, Although is also feeds on some berries, seeds and nectar.

Obviously its food habits need to be properly observed and documented.

Images by Calvin Chang.

References:
1. Collar, N. J. & C. Robson, 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers). In: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (eds.). Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 12.
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 NaturePixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.