Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS was in Miri City, Sarawak, West Malaysia on 26th June 2009 when he encountered a pair of Black-headed Munia (Lonchura malacca sinensis) mating.

The composite image above shows the mating sequence. The adult initially appeared very ruffled up and excited. He then mounted the compliant female. The entire mating took less that 30 seconds from start to finish. Once it was over they both flew off.

Note that they were on a pretty thin branch and that the female was grasping the branch really tight. “I wonder if such a thin branch paradoxically offers better grip than, say a large branch,” mused Amar.

The composite image is by Amar-Singh HSS (Dato, Dr)

GS Soh was at Singapore’s Chinese Garden on 13th September 2009 when he photographed a male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia). There was a female accompanying him.

“They were happy to greet me with a dance performance and at the same time feasting on the food available in the garden. He was brave - standing 15 feet away from me looking curiously at my big big “eyes” - my 5″ diameter lense, of course. His wife was shy - hiding behind the leaves most of the time. She appeared on few occasions…”

This flycatcher is a common winter visitor and passage migrant that breeds in Eastern Russia, Mongolia, North China and Korea. Besides Singapore, it also winters in Peninsular Malaysia and as far slouth as Sumatra and Java.

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

Debby Ng returned from a birding tour of the Kakadu National Park in Australia’s Northern Territory with images of the Great Bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) (left) and it’s bower (below). The photographs were taken in the Mary River area in the south.

According to Debby, “The bird’s bower had a display of bleached land snail shells, broken green bottle glass, and wrappers of aluminum foil. The brid’s nest is a cup in a tree and the bower is used only for courtship purposes. The male was very nervous as we approached the bower, so we backed away and shot the bower from afar instead. There were two bowers at the site and several bower birds in that particular vicinity but we only observed one bird go towards its nest to make the ‘arrangements.’”

According to Goodfellow (2005), it is the male that builds the elaborate arched bower. Broken glass and white stones, often broken quartz, are used to decorate the ground around. When a female approaches, “the male parades and dances with lowered wings and raised tail, shaking the mauve crest and opening his mouth to reveal the yellow lining.” Once mating is completed, the female leaves to build her bowl-shaped nest of twigs lodged in a fork of a far-off woody shrub.

Reference:
Goodfellow, D. L. & M. Scott, 2005. Birds of Australia’s top end. Reed New Holland, Sydney. 159 pp.

In late May 2009 Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS came across a Yellow-bellied Prinia (Prinia flaviventris rafflesi) building a nest almost at his feet at the Tambun Interior, Perak, Malaysia. He went back two weeks later to check on the progress of the nesting but to his horror the tall grass in the area had been cut and the nest destroyed. Many other nests were also destroyed but he came across one that had been exposed by the grass cutting.

He managed to watch this exposed nest that had one chick (above left) with both parents feeding for close to two hours. The above image on the right shows a female bringing prey to the nest. “Got cooked by the sun but was worth it,” he added. “I stayed as far away as possible and the parents seemed reasonably comfortable with my camera and lens camouflaged.”

The composite image above show some food brought to the fledgling, almost every 60 seconds. Much of the prey were small beetles. The female brought prey more often to the nest, but this could be due to his presence making the adult male more wary and playing a protective role, or so Amar thought.

“You can differentiate the adult female from the male by the white supra-loral stripe above the eye. Also tends to give the female a white ‘eye ring,’” added Amar. The composite image above shows the female on the left and the male right. “Some males also have a small white supra-loral stripe above the eye but it is small and not prominent (my experience, unlike the field guides, is that this is not uncommon and may change with breeding plumage). In addition, the tail in females is shorter. The best guide for me in the field is the behavior - males are more vocal, are more “aggressive” (more protective when we come near the nest). I have often seen them as pairs so the differentiation is not difficult if you see their behavior side by side.”

All images by Amar-Singh HSS (Dato, Dr)

“Had a chance to observe four female Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia) a while ago and would like to share their hunting and perching behavior.

Image on the left shows well developed female perched on a rotting trunk with a remnant insectile wing lodged onto its forehead after a hunt under available light. Image on the right shows wing jump behavior when exposed to flash photography.

“The flycatcher was first observed to be hunting in the confines of a sprawling shrub one fine afternoon, darting restlessly from one branch to another to feast on the air-borne inhabitants. By appearance, all four females are cloaked in brownish-yellow shades each characterised by a prominent yellow rump. The pale yellow eye ring and greyish whiskered beak appeared well formed with the exception of a single female showing partially developed beak towards the corner, evident by the presence of soft yellow tissue resembling that of a fledging sunbird and a perceived emaciated frame, suggesting perhaps an under nourished female(?).

“When hunting, these flycatchers would fan its tail in an up and down motion before darting to attack on its prey, in a manner similar to that of a Pied Fantail (Rhipidura javanica). Interestingly, the flycatcher may also pick its food from under the leaves to create a protein rich diet. While thee appeared to be incessantly active in pursuit of food in an effort to replenish its lost body weight to continue with its wintering voyage, there were periods when they appeared predictable, as judged by their consistent perching behavior. For example, one female was observed to perch consistently on a rotting trunk between flights even in the presence of observers (<1-5m away), suggesting a certain level of tolerance possible with this species (or perhaps it is the lure of food?).

"Unlike sunbirds, the Yellow-rumped Flycatchers do not respond well to flash photography, evident by the abrupt wing-jump behavior whenever a flash gun is fired. But it is perhaps to be able to maintain close proximity observation in solitude that makes the encounter so enchanting."

Dr Jeff Lim
Singapore
23rd September 2009