“The religious text - Bible, mentions a Messiah or Christ that ‘walked on water.’ But that was more than two thousand years ago if one chooses the religious faith of Christianity to believe.

“Delving into the avian world, I discovered that a family of birds- Jacanas Jacanidae or lotus birds/lily-trotters commonly known by Australians, are also called Christ birds - for they seemingly seen to be walking on water from afar.

“With a worldwide total of only 8 species of Jacanas, Malaysia boasts of two in the Malaysian checklist of birds. Both the Bronze-winged (Metopidius indicus) and Pheasant-tailed Jacanas (Hydrophasianus chirurgus) remain elusive and not ready to reveal themselves to me as yet. (Vagrant former, migratory latter)

“Perhaps, I was not desperate enough nor seek hard enough just to chalk up my checklist. Nor too the vegetative local scene in my backyard provides enough inspiration, what I could say… to do so would be, just a trivial pursuit that did not match up in comparison to the feeling of completeness and aesthetical perfection of seeing a Jacana in Monet’s Waterlilies.

“When I had old migratory friends from Australia visited as in-house guests last year, I was shown a digital camera image of a Jacana which looked interesting enough to catch a non-birder’s eye. I identified it to be the Comb-crested Jacana (Metopidius [rediparra] gallinacea).

“This is the only one and resident species to be found in Australia and I decided under the spell of my ‘Feet-itchy Syndrome’, I would take on the Comb-crested Jacana as one of my ‘wish list’ to see birds, even if it means scouring over seven and half million sq km of endearing land of so many diversities - just to get a better glimpse of it; perhaps challenge my birding luck to hold good if not, better in the land of Oz.

“Perhaps too, be rewarded with a picture or two and to show why this species is so famous for their feet; inoculating, emulating and reminding ourselves the values of appreciating and making a point of conserving bird habitats proactively, especially of quality birds before they become fallen and categorised into Red data listings, as endangered species or become extinct like Dodo birds (above left).

“Jacanas are known to have the longest feet-to-body ratio of any bird known. Their toes are spread out to balance their body weight as well as to enable the bird to hop-scotch over to the next lily pad, some of which grow to a metre in diameter. Thus, this would give the apparent appearance of a bird walking on water. Hence the name- Christ Bird is derived (above right; left).

“With the help of three Australian birding pals and a walk all round the lotus ponds with DGScope in tow, it did not matter that the sky had a hole in it that late morning. I had my SP45 on. We finally spotted one, creeping along rich aquatic vegetation of Blue lilies (Nymphae violacea) and on large, dotted- green, lotus pads in the lake (below left).

“Following the walking tall bird with my x50 magnification scope and at least 100 feet distance away, the 23cm bird was observed creeping in and out of those gorgeous blue water lilies, reeds and probing into water and vegetation in search of aquatic invertebrates, seeds and roots (below right).

“The vegetation was all so healthy. It was classical habitat at best for these polyandrous birds as described in field guide books that provided me the inspiration to write, showcasing the signature identity of the Comb-crested Jacana to readers at its dramatic best in perfect habitat situations (below).

“These birds are amazing. Although they do take short flights across lakes, ponds and lagoons, they are highly adapted to aquatic life, building their nests and raising their young on those floating vegetation. The chicks are also submersibles in times of predatory threats.

“Being polyandrous - females often mate with other males, these female birds would leave the housekeeping - egg incubation and the business of rearing the hatchings in the care of their faithful males.

“Mmm…that’s a change. Wonder how our social human MALE society especially in Middle Eastern countries would turn out to react if women emulate the lifestyles of female Jacanas. Weeeee!

“By the way, isn’t’ it uncanny that those opened, leather slippers with big toe straps worn by ancient Romans and Middle Eastern men of today are called, Jesus’s Creepers by working expatriates living in their host countries?

“It has also been described that whenever a predatory threat looms, the Jacana male would swiftly pick up and carry off his hatchings under his wing to safety, leaving their hatchings’ long trailing feet hanging out.

“One day perhaps, Inshah Allah (God willing), should I chance another sighting of a Jacana in any part of the world, I hope to have this opportunity to witness such a caring behaviour of the fine, home keeping male to your armchair to share with you. Perhaps …go seven steps further to see them all?

“Through the good office of our BESG member Bruce Ramsay, this front view image of the Comb-crested Jacana is made possible by courtesy of Ian Fraser, showing the red comb of this fascinating, walking Christ bird” (above).

AVIAN WRITER DAISY O’NEILL PENANG MALAYSIA
© CREEPING WITH ‘CHRIST’ BIRD

“The red, iron bird engaged its landing gears, sending her wheelie feet to hang. Her wings retracted leaving reminges of the ‘bird’ flapping in the wind as the aircraft was guided to a descent onto the airfield tarmac.

“A ‘boomp’ followed, confirming a touch down. My constant travels have taught me well to judge the skills and experience of pilots by how smooth and soft the ‘boomp’ they made. Sometimes, I would whisper into the air-hostess’s ear, turning dimpled smiles into laughters as I made to the exit doorway. I knew only too well my soft whispers would eventually get to the Captain’s ears.

“‘G-DAY! Welcome to the sunshine state of Australia-Queensland’.

“Peering through the glass-cabin hole, I thought it was strange there wasn’t a feathered bird in the airport vicinity to greet me.

“It was later brought to my knowledge that Coolangatta airport authorities actually have field marshals to skirt-drive around the airfield to hoot off birds that fly too near their iron cousins for comfort!

“It has been known that birds do get sucked into propellers, causing kamikaze bird deaths, bad accidents and expensive repairs and maintenance.

“Have I arrived at the other end of the rainbow? Yes!

“It wasn’t long into my birding session that a small party of gregarious Rainbow Lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus) appeared and made a bee-line for the native blooms of Queensland Umbrella trees Schefflera actinophylla.

“What resulted was a circus like display of acrobatic skills these musical screechers so well known for, as they trapezed amongst sprays of colourful, red flowers amongst spoke-like umbrella stems of their foliages. | Image 1, 2, 3 4|.

“They wasted no time to dig in and relished the blooms, buds, seeds, nectar and all, pollinating along the way as they carried their hooked pollen-dusted beaks to the next fresh floral sprays. |Image 5, 6|

“The eastern seaboard area, skirting from Cape York to right down South Australia like a crescent, is prolific with this moluccanus race species identified by their greenish yellow collars.

“Rainforests, woodlands, eucalypt forests, open forests, gardens, heaths and urban areas with trees are their favourite areas of habitat. While there are 3 more subspecies or race to contend with, those of the rubritorquis variation in northern part of the Australian continent have red collars.

“In certain field guide books, it is categorised as a separate species called, Red-collared Lorikeet (Trichoglossus rubritorquatus.).

“Surprisingly, all races are vagrants to Tasmania… Not distant flyers?

“Rainbow Lorikeets are mainly frugivores. They have brush like tongues to lap up nectar and pollens. Blossoms, seeds and also berries are their favourites and Australia’s native Bottlebrush species, especially the red Callistemon citrinus is one of their favourite raiding haunts whom they share with their Scaly Breasted Lorikeet (Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus) cousins. |Image 7|

“One can only imagine during the fruit and flowering seasons, how noisy these birds do get and non-birders detesting them for being deprived of peace and quiet…

“However, despite their continuous screeching and chattering, these gregarious birds continued to be treated fondly by residents and bird lovers with generous food handouts in their garden homes.

“Conservationists would say that it is never proper to be feeding wild birds especially with processed foods for fear of overly food dependence. It is also unknowingly introducing bacteria via feeders’ hands and contaminated food itself.
However having said that, some hardy species especially the urban dwellers have showed no adverse effects to such and have multiplied instead.

“So too the ugly word , ecotourism that hangs on the other end of the balancing scale to balance the upkeep of Nature Parks and Wild Bird Sanctuaries with tourist dollars.

“A little commercial corner is not uncommonly set aside these days for tourists to feed birds especially lorikeets. It is a compromised situation hopefully under controlled conditions and everyone goes home happy.

“How could any person ignore such a colourful bird of rainbow colours? While many residents would see just a colourful bird zoomed passed, how many would actually get close enough to admire the mosaic of plumage, this species presents to live up it’s name or be models to the likes of Vincent Van Gogh?

“I was taught memory pegs during school days to remember the colours and reciting them in correct sequence order, counting from the outer bow inwards. The ‘ROYAL OF YORK GAINS BATTLE IN VAIN’.

“Readers taking the first alphabet of each word to represent the colours would get - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. See if you can seek out the 7 splendours of the ubiquitous Rainbow Lorikeet attached. Image 8

“Join me to enjoy some quality birds of the sunshine state in the next few articles and why Australians and emigrants simply love it there despite the presence of a hole in the depleted ozone, layered sky above.”

AVIAN WRITER DAISY O’NEILL PENANG MALAYSIA
© CHASING RAINBOWS.

“When article ‘An Uncouth Avian Cowboy Comes to Town’ was posted last February (see HERE), I least expected my good fortune to again witnessed another act of copulation by a pair of uncouth Coppersmith Barbets (Megalaima haemacephala), Kama and Sutrajee, who seemed to love kamasutric performances in an open-air auditorium.

“The stage scene was by no means in a romantic perfumed garden or near any golden lotus ponds, but a far cry up on an old skeletal tree branch, across a brackish river for the world to see. The familiar calls of tok! tok! tok! like a working coppersmith sent my head turned, just in time to witness Kama flying in with a beakfull of berries to the awaiting Sutrajee.

“The stage was set for Act 1, Scene 1 of an early matinee side show.

“The two groups of images above and below are to be viewed from top-left clockwise - a sequence showing the art of Avian KamaSutra.

“Potentially, this is what an Avian Kamasutra’s erotic literature may read like - my excerpts written below to add another new dimension in avian writing.

“’Like an angel of the morning, Kama flew in, bearing gifts of berries for fair exchange of an equal number of sensual bonks. Disguised to look like macho Batman, baring his ribby chest, the rogue pumped his seeds of essence into Sutragee, sending her swooning in the warmth of his feathery wings, in ecstasy and screaming for more…. Ohh…. more! for those balmy berries.

In that split few seconds of sensual delight, the aura of warm, white light that surrounded Kama glowed …. only to disappear like magic. Having spent his seeds, they became strangers before the night went cold… …..’

“Mmmm… now cut the chase and back to the real.

“It was observed no berries were offered to Sutrajee until after copulation took place - a universal condition that Coppersmith Barbets seemed to have become known for their classical rogue behaviours.

“The 11cm Kama seemed to be able to count the number of berries offered. Images showed more than two berries. I stayed long enough to see the return of the Shylock for Act 2 Scene 1.

“It is also known to observe frugivorous females whose expectations fall short of what males could best deliver or be felt exploited for whatever reasons, would discreetly play foul and expel the sperms like a quick Chinese spit. To discard bad seeds so to speak (above)!

“The sulking of Sutrajee said it all (left). I would not dare to intervene in a lover’s quarrel.

“This is my 32nd contributed article and will be my last for this season of birds of Malaysia for now until after my vacation.

Pray well and let the iron bird flies me across oceans, chase rainbows and bring back stories of Aves from the Land of the Southern Cross to delight.

“Until then…”

Note: Most images were taken by digiscopy at long distance shots of no less than 60 feet away against a morning sky. While some are quite satisfactory to show, others had to be photo-shopped to death).

AVIAN WRITER DAISY O’NEILL PENANG MALAYSIA © AVIAN KAMA & SUTRAJEE

This is a continuation from the previous post… Raising Kings I.

The chicks continued to be food dependant on their parents in the first two weeks. When Zena gave the rattling ‘come and get it call’ with rations sandwiched in her beak, hungry chicks usually responded quite immediately. She made them fly and scurry along the tight wire to reach for their food. Feeding stopped when Zena received no more response. She swallowed the left over.

Zena, having gone slimmer would then partake of a late, deserving breakfast alone. See how soiled her beak showed after a tiresome morning of chick feeding? No different from human parents who had to attend to their school children’s needs (left top).

It was also observed that parents practiced selective feeding to ensure survival of their brood. At times, Zena would turn away an approaching, begging chick only to call to another or fly off to feed another (left bottom).

Consistent observations provided opportunities to differentiate behavioural patterns of each chick. I soon learnt to tell them apart from one another.

On the 7th day, while half the world slept or rested, Modesto was seen exercising and testing out her beak and figuring out how to use it like Mom and Dad (below: left, middle).

She put her skills to test, staring into the water for any edible movements that may have caught her eye but saw nothing except murky water. “How on earth did Mom see those juicy river snails?” she wondered (below right).

Modesto is recognised as the slimmer chick female with an attitude. She was observed to be facing away from the river frequently and preferring to stare into a grass sprouted river edge. On the 11th day, she made her first brave attempt to dive from the tight line for an insect- perhaps a grasshopper. She came up with a beakful of mud instead feeling fuzzed.

Allegro was making speedy progress on day eleven. He finally succeeded in fishing for a river snail but had yet to acquire the skill of keeping it in his beak. He cringed when he saw his precious catch dropped into the river (below: left, middle). Whenever food became available from parents, his response was indeed swift.

Piccolo, the last chick fledged was lagging behind in maturity and at times was observed to be still hiding under her roost. Zena had to fly in to feed him. Being the youngest, the apple of his father’s eye, protector Hector made a point to be all seeing and all hearing. He was quick to replenish an overdue feed to his favourite. The image above (right) shows Hector overlooking Piccolo.

A surprise observation was made when a fourth fledgling was sighted very briefly on only two occasions. The prodigal fledgling stayed only for a very short moment for roll call. I called him Prodigo. The fledgling was swift and flighty with highly sensitive, predatory instincts and he/she truely was born to be free and wild. I had neither photo opportunity nor a chance of a better glimpse of this fourth.

From day 12, the chicks were beginning to look smart with more changes seen to their feet, downy feathers turning darker and colour of pink breaking through grey beaks. White eye rings were fading away (above).

Images of Allegro and Piccolo on the 17th and 18th day showed the body language of the chicks. One was looking confident, the other- still unsure and timid of himself (below).

It became clear that it was increasing difficult to photograph family feeding times together as the chicks became more independent and scattered. Window period of stealing a glimpse of them during roll calls became shorter by the day. To be able to chance seeing them, I had to be at the feeding site by 7.30 am each day.

The last opportunity to observe and to photograph the avian family came on the 17th day. It was also observed the fledglings had learnt the skills of survival and self sustenance and soon to be known as juveniles. It was also the last time I was able to see the trio-Allegro, Piccolo and Modesto perched together (above).

A quiet moment saw Hector with two river snails- a goodbye, love package. He flew in and perched beside Piccolo. It was the 21st morning (right).

“Here Pico, this is the last time I can be feeding you. Here is one and the other is for the road”.

Piccolo never flew far and was seen in the following days alone on the feeding wire. He waited and waited but food never came. Zena would still be around somewhere and occasionally flew in to offer a treat now and then. It was hard to let go, hard to see her chick go hungry alone. Piccolo was simply… not quite ready. Hector watched with self restraint (below top).

One day, Piccolo was seen attempting to chase a small moth. He was weaving for his breakfast in the air. The moth was desperate to get away. So was hungry Piccolo for the moth. They both disappeared behind a bush in a rising cloud of moth dust.

D-day came on 31st day. Mom kept a little distant. It was time to see her last chick fly to independence. To fly he must for he was born to be free… (left bottom).

Hector, the White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) moved on and was seen no more. Both parents have done exceedingly well in successfully bringing up a fine brood to propagate their species.

Observation came to an official close on 1st March, 2008. It has taken two months of observations and time consuming effort in documenting Hector and Zena breeding and nurturing their young.

Committing my time to follow through to the finale with Hector and Zena, have been fulfilling moments. To be able to write about it, only serves to substantiate credibility to these photographic bird images, making them ever so worthwhile to dwell in the art of digiscoping birds in the wilderness.

Hector and Zena have both given me this privilege to be a window opener into their lives, to reach readers, share, understand and enjoy them in the wild from an armchair. I am grateful. All they ask in return is, “Please save my habitat and admire us from afar”.

I am glad I do not have a problem doing just that. The latter at least that is within my control……

(Most images had to be taken more than 50 feet away from a river bank by digiscopy method. While they are not really of photographic quality, they are just about satisfactory to substantiate this article. I hope readers have enjoyed them).

AVIAN WRITER DAISY O’NEILL PENANG MALAYSIA
© RAISING KINGS

Raising Kings is a sequential to Breeding Kings.

Join me in this 2nd part to witness Hector and Zena - the parental pair of White-throated Kingfishers (Halcyon smyrnensis), nurture their brood and let go. Maybe human beings may find a jewel or two in this documentation to admire our feathered descendants of mythological King Ceyx, enjoy the headaches and heartaches of bringing up children and learning the art of detachment.

Allegro - the oldest fledgling, endowed with downy feathered head, remained naively unperturbed by a harsh world around him (below left). Together with the rest of his siblings, he remained cutely and stoically perched on a horizontal branch across the small river on fledgling day. Occasionally, some were seen looking up at flying objects. It soon dawned on them, they too were expected to do the same.

Survivor skills were conducted by Hector on the 3rd morning (above right). Dad with shiny reddish-orange beak to match his feet gave a demonstration of one smart plunging glide along the water’s surface. He skimmed out a little fish, perched and swallowed the staple food whole.

Hector gave a serious, fatherly stare at Allegro as if to say, “Look son, this is how our ancestors first lived by our name-King of fishers and you gonna learn fast to live up by that name too.”

The fledglings gawked in disbelief. Nervous Piccolo nearly fell from his perch as he observed in dismay.

“Oh my goodness! Is this what I have to do? Oh no…!” exclaimed Piccolo.

Mother Nature had no mercy. In toughing up the fledglings, she sent two continuous nights of heavy rainfall. I was concerned and wondered how they fared under such circumstances.

I consoled myself and recalled an observation that, immediately after fledgling, they instinctively undertook to a preening ritual to waterproof themselves by stimulating their uropygial gland to secrete an oily fluid.

By late afternoon, the fledglings were found roosting on low perch under a fallen Poinciana tree canopy about 30 feet away. It became a favourite roosting spot for the fledgling trio-Allegro, Modesto and Piccolo (below left).

Predators oblivion to the chicks, were plentiful and a favourite breeding spot for lurking monitor lizards (above middle). Even a stray cat looked alert and well fed (above right).

The chicks have weathered the storm. The 4th day saw progressive growth and transformation of the fledglings. Yellow feet were beginning to show splashes of grey above and bright, yellow tipped bills receding into grey tones (below).

Growth provided more strength to their wings, flight of fledglings became more confident. Coaxed by parents, they began a flight of sixty feet further up stream, onto a feeding stage.

On this wired line, the feeding stage provided many interesting moments of observations. Parents roll called each dawn break with a descending, pre-breakfast wailing and rolling of ‘keeee… keee…’ sending chicks in for a head count.

I soon began to recognise the differences between mating calls, alarm calls and feeding calls.

Hector & Zena with a fledgling posed to show their differences for comparison (left top). Zena, the female parent appeared to be of slimmer built while Hector certainly looked macho and more rounded on the head.

The role of chick feeding was purely carried out by Zena. Hector supervised and kept a little distance away but never failed to fill in where needed. River snails were favourites. Zena would carry out a series of dives and whacked off shells against a branch during initial stages of feeding. She ensured each of her brood received sufficient rations (left below).

It was observed as from the 6th day, chicks were able to swallow river snails whole. Lizards, dragon flies were also added for diet variety to their daily 8am breakfast (above).

Breakfast was a busy time and the following opportunity images provided much food for though t- “A family that eats together, stays together (above, below)”

On this feeding line, the chicks were taught discipline, teamwork, sharpening predatory instincts, sharing, independence and most of all, survival skills. They had to learn to catch on the fly and fish for their meals. It was indeed crash course to be taken seriously or starve.

One of the images showed a pair of Eurasian Tree Sparrows Passer Montanus perched on the same line (left). The kingfishers learnt to share space and live in peaceful co-existence. To be continued…

(Most images had to be taken more than 50 feet away from a river bank by digiscopy method. While they are not really of photographic quality, they are just about satisfactory to substantiate this article. I hope readers have enjoyed them).

AVIAN WRITER DAISY O’NEILL PENANG MALAYSIA
© RAISING KINGS