“Recently, a male Brown-throated Sunbird (Anthreptes malacensis) regularly visits my bougainvillea plant. Some stems of this plant, which is planted in a pot placed at the common corridor, had grown out of the high-rise flat. A bare stem that was outside the parapet wall had become the sunbird’s favourite perch.

“Last Sunday, the loud and cheerful chirping announced the arrival of this sunbird. From a room in my flat, the sunbird could be observed from close range. At a little more than 2 metres away and less than a metre below the level of the window sill, I had a great view.

“It was a cloudy day and ideal for taking pictures. Slowly, I opened the sliding window and took up position. I had to stick my camera out of the window; thus exposing my presence to this individual. However, this sunbird seemed at home and comfortable; totally ignoring me as I clicked away. Occasionally, it would chirp and look around - even looking straight at me and my camera. There was no sign of distress as it preened, stretched, and indulged in comfort behaviour (above, below).

“On that Sunday, the sunbird visited at least three times: at 11:54 am (4 minutes), 12:56 pm (15 minutes) and 1:59 pm (6 minutes). 

In real life, the hues and colours on the Brown-Throated Sunbird may not be fully appreciated due to the bird’s small size. In the larger than life size images, the plumage was simply stunning. The hues and colours of this species could even rival the colours of a rainbow. Even the different types of feathers, their various shapes and the patterns formed made this species a fascinating subject.”

Kwong Wai Chong
Singapore
16th May 2010

“It was early morning on Labour Day (1st May 2010). An Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) was observed to be harvesting fruits from one of the many MacArthur Palm trees (Ptychosperma macarthurii), which were fruiting in the area.

“It selected only the ripened red-coloured fruits; using the tip of its beak to pick them up. The selected fruits were then flicked expertly into its oral cavity - always one at a time (above). When it had its fill, it flew to a nearby tree and began to preen itself. After some preening, it suddenly flipped its head to one side to an angle of about ninety degrees. In just an instance, its head resumed to its normal position. Its mandibles were seen opening narrowly and then closing. Its head was then tilted up slightly with its beak partially opened. A slight movement of its head forward resulted in one seed emerging from out of nowhere to appear briefly at the tip of its beak (below). The seed that was regurgitated was then allowed to drop into the bushes below.

“Subsequently, this hornbill continued to feed on the MacArthur Palm for another two rounds, preening itself in different trees in between. There was no other regurgitation seen.

“What happened next was totally unexpected. The hornbill somehow lost its balance and had to perform some acrobatics to salvage itself from the indignity of being upside-down (above). It found itself in an upside-down position when it suddenly plunged forward with its head and long neck going well below the level of its perch. Its strong grip on the perch prevented it from falling off the branch. It managed to balance itself by half-spreading its wings. Somehow, it gathered sufficient strength to lift itself awkwardly back to its normal upright perching posture.

“Birds do not normally lose their balance on their perches. This is the first time that I have caught sight of a bird losing its balance while it was perching.”

Kwong Wai Chong
Singapore
10th May 2010

Lim Seik Ni and Tan Hwee Miem reported that Blue-throated Bee-eaters (Merops viridis) have been visiting their campus at the University Putra Malaysia (UPM) in Serdang, Malaysia from mid-April to end of September. They managed to locate their breeding ground at the campus area where they observed the bee-eaters’ behaviour.

What fascinated them as well as their birding seniors were the ways the birds sunbathed, especially the different postures taken. The birds laid on the flat ground spread-eagled with wings expanded and tail feathers spread, panting at the same time (top left). The neck may be inclined to one side with the feathers fluffed (above right).

In the above images, the bee-eater appears to be taking a sand bath, lying with the the feathers fluffed, neck exposed to the sun and bill open. In the centre image the open bill is pointing upwards.

According to Fry (2001), bee-eaters take sun bathe, dust bathing and water bathing. Sunning can take place at odd hours of the day. Extending the neck to one side to expose the feathers to the sun has been termed as “broken-necked” posture.

These are various ways of maintaining the feathers that include preening and water bathing. Earlier posts include sunbathing on a television antenna.



Reference:
Fry, C. H., 2001. Family Meropidae (Bee-eaters). In: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (eds.), Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 6. Mousebirds to Hornbills. Lynx Editions, Barcelona. Pp. 286-341.

In early April 2010, KC Tsang made a video of a sleepy juvenile Buffy Fish Owl (Ketupa ketupu) roosting on its perch (left). It was around 1530 hours and the owl was preening its upper feathers. During the short period it was preening, the eyes showed a combination of opening, closing and movements of the nictitating membrane.

The images below best illustrate this: left shows both eyes closed, centre shows one eye about to close while the other already closed and right shows one eye fully open while the other has the upper eyelid blinking and the nictitating membrane over it.

The video provides an opportunity to study the opening and closing of the eyes. As typical of birds, closing of the eyes involves the lower eyelids. They move upwards to cover the eyes. The images below clearly illustrate the stages of closing of the right eye. All the time the left eye remains open.

Similarly, the video clearly shows the appearance of the nictitating membrane as the upper eyelid is flicked downwards. The nictitating membrane appears from the inner upper corner of the eye to move diagonally towards the lower outer corner. The images below illustrate the stages in the right eye.

The bird’s eye has an upper and a lower eyelid as well as a nictitating membrane or third eyelid. According to Evans & Heiser (2004), this membrane “moves sideways across the eye, at right angles to the regular eyelids, cleaning the eye’s surface and keeping it moist.” In an earlier post we showed the nictitating membrane moving sideways in the case of the Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus). However, in Buffer Fish Owl, the membrane moves diagonally, as also shown in an image posted earlier. Long (1998) has confirmed this, describing the movement “from the inside corner diagonally to the outside corner…” Furthermore, Long’s (1998) take on the eyelids… “The upper eyelids are used in blinking movements, which helps clean the eyes. The lower eyelids are pulled up over the eyes during sleep.”

Images are video grabs copyright of KC Tsang. The video can be viewed HERE.

References:
1. Evans, H. E. & J. B. Heiser, 2004. What’s inside: Anatomy and physiology. In: Podulka, S., R. W. Rohrbaugh Jr & R. Bonney (eds.), Handbook of bird biology. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY. Pp. 4.1-4.162.
2. Long, K., 1998. Owls: A wildlife handbook. Johnson Books, Boulder. 181 pp.

Richard Lim’s images of a spotted Wood Owl (Strix seloputo) sunning (left) raise two questions: do owls sun themselves and in the middle of the day at that.

According to Mark et al. (1999), although owls are considered nocturnal, not all species are active only during the night. There are species that hunt during the day and even nocturnal species will catch a prey if it happens to pass below its perch. However, Strix spp., of which the Spotted Wood Owl is one, are by and large nocturnal.

Mark et al. (1999) further state that owls indulge in the range of comfort activities observed in other groups of birds. Preening, scratching, dusting, stretching and even bathing can take place during the night, although it has been reported that bathing also occurs during the day. As for sunning, this can only take place in the day.

Richard’s observation of the Spotted Wood Owl sunning at noon is a valuable record.

Reference:
Marks, J. S., R. J. Cannings & H. Mikkola, 1999. Family Strigidae (Typical Owls). In: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (eds.), Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 5. Barn-owls to hummingbirds. Lynx Editions, Barcelona. Pp. 76-242.