“It was late in the evening, at around 5.00pm when the birds would come one at a time to their favorite bathing spot, a small shallow flowing stream in the middle of the jungle. The lighting was pretty bad, but my video-cam just manage to cope with the condition.

“The first to the bathing spot was the Cream-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus simplex), considered an uncommon bird, and nationally near threatened. The bulbul was at first very wary of my presence, hopping from branch to branch and maintaining a constant visual contact with me. Having satisfied that I was no threat, it plonked itself into the shallow flowing stream. With vigorous fluffing and shaking of feathers, it started to have a bath. The bird hopped out of the water, proceeded with drying its feathers, and than hopped back down into the pool and got itself wet again. And for a couple more times!

“After the Cream-vented Bulbul left the bathing spot, the Short-tailed Babbler (Malacocincla malaccensis) ventured in and having seen that the bulbul was not at all harmed by my presence, immediately went into the pool to have a bath. The babbler did the same thing as the bulbul, wetting itself and shaking off the water from its plumage - then preening, before going back into the water to wet itself again.

“Was its action of shaking off the water also allowed it to shake of some parasites living among its feathers?”

KC Tsang
Singapore
21st August 2010

“The BESGroup posting on 15 July 2010 mentioned that documentation of anting has so far evaded photographers. For documentary proof and record, attach are record shots of a Javan Myna (Acridotheres javanicus) in anting behaviour. The shots were taken on 3rd April 2010.

“That morning, a Javan Myna was first noticed standing on a pile of dried leaves on the ground. It was not foraging, but was just standing there doing nothing. What made me take a second look was its somewhat strange expression. Upon closer examination, I realised that it was in the act of anting.

“In between periods of inactivity, it would look into the pile of dead leaves and tuck its beak into the leaves. An ant would appear to be picked up and would be deliberately placed in the underside of its wing (left). Apparently, there were ants in the pile of dead leaves. To be more specific, they were weaver ants that can inflict painful bites.

“It was later observed that some ants were already on the bird’s feathers, which only became obvious when they were exposed during preening of the bird’s feathers - mostly under its belly, to the underside and topside of its wings (above). Also observed were some body twisting and shaking by the myna. Could this be an effort to counter the discomfort of ants on its body? The bird could be itchy as it was seen scratching its head with its foot.

“The anting behaviour ended when the myna flew off together with a few other mynas that were also indulging in the same behaviour. These birds were spread out on the ground under the shade in a cluster of trees. For some unknown reason, an army of weaver ants had gathered on the sun-exposed surface of the tree trunk of one of the trees. One myna had directly picked up ants from this tree trunk (above: in right image, ant is arrowed).”

Kwong Wai Chong
Singapore
18th July 2010

We have an earlier post on the Blue-throated Bee-eaters (Merops viridis) taking a sunbath. The bee-eater was lying on the ground with wings outstretched, tail feathers fanned out and bill wide open, panting.

Now, Mike Tan a.k.a. woof has provided us with a clear image of the bee-eater doing the same, with its head pointing upwards. It is sunbathing, one of many ways of keeping the feathers in top form. The bird is at the same time panting, to get rid of excess heat.

John Vickerman adds that the basic function of sun-exposure apparently lies in the beneficial effects of feather maintenance with the sun’s heat being directed mainly onto the spread wings and tail feathers. John’s research also suggests that sun-exposure increases the flow of preen-oil.

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

It was always fascinating to watch the Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis) seeking out the birdseeds scattered on the grassy patch of the garden. When the seeds were plentiful the bird would be busy pecking at them. However when birdseeds were sparse, it would walk round seeking them out.

It was during such periods of “scarcity” that the dove would have time to indulge in comfort behaviour. During a sunny period it would sit on a sunny patch, raise one of its wing up high to expose the feathers on the inner surface to the sun‘s rays for up to a minute before lowering it (left).

In between foraging, the dove would stretch both wings to take up the typical “angel” pose (above left) or do a wing-leg stretch (above right). At the same time it would preen various parts of the body as well as scratch its head.

It was amusing to observe a Javan Myna (Acridotheres javanicus) in the background similarly taking advantage of the sun. It sat on the ground with bill agape and eyes wide open. It remained in this position for a few minutes before getting up. Was it desperately trying to lose heat in the hot sun? Later the myna also indulged in preening.

Chris Lee a.k.a. chrisle023 captured a private moment of an Olive-winged Bulbul (Pycnonotus plumosus) taking its bath in a forest puddle. Note that the contour feathers are all fluffed up and damp, especially those around the throat. Once the bird gets out of the water, it will vigorously shake itself to get rid of excess water before settling down to preen and possible oil the feathers, using oil from its pair of uropygial or preen glands found at the base of the tail. This oil has antifungal and antibacterial properties.

Singapore
5th March 2010

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