Following our earlier post on a White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) strangled by a length of discarded kite string in Malaysia, R Subaraj sent in his account of a similar strangulation at Singapore’s Lorong Halus.

“…another White-throated Kingfisher strangled on a kite string. With kite flying exploding in popularity, there are people flying kites everywhere. At nature areas, this poses a big problem. Fields at sites like Lorong Halus are absolutely littered with strings, making a simple walk through the grass difficult. For the birdlife, this can be fatal!”

Check out birds strangled by discarded fishing lines here: owl1 and owl2; hornbill; myna; heron1 and heron2.

“Road kills are very common.

“Now, there is proof that kite kills too. The pictures of a bird killed by the line of a breakaway kite is shown on the left. I think it got entangled while in flight due to the almost invisible line. The line could be coated with broken glass to act as abrasive usually common in kite flying competition which could have cut this poor bird.

“From the colors and the beak, I presume that it is a White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis).

“It was taken from a line hanging from the branch of a ficus tree (top, above left) beside Riverview housing estate by the Sungai Klang river not far from Klang Gate reservior, Kuala Lumpur. The image above-right shows the inset photo of the long beak.”

Forest Ang
1st August 2010

“On a cycling trip in Southern Kedah, Malaysia, along the long coastal bund road, we found this Barn Owl (Tyto alba) gripping tightly on the live cables (left, below). I could see some flies but no foul smell, probably due to the strong breeze from the sea as this corpse was high above.

“I personally had encountered live wire and the moment I touched, it ‘boomed’ loudly with flying sparks and it actually repulsed me. Not sure why this fated owl still held on the cable. If the owl has linked up the circuit (+ve & -ve) then I am sure it would be charcoal black. The photos only showed the black-burnt beak area. I have seen a whole monkey burnt to charcoal when caught on such live cables.

“Another point I would like to note is that modern live cables near housing areas are now seen to be coated. This one still has not changed. Do you think this issue should be highlighted to the responsible utility company? What about other countries, anyone can comment about live cables in your country and perhaps fatalities on wildlife? It would be interesting to learn about this live cables issue in conservation of wildlife.”

Forest Ang
10th July 2010

GCSpyder photographed a breeding adult Red-headed Quelea (Quelea erythrops) in the latter part of March 2010 at Jalan Gemala 2, Singapore. This is an African weaver and its presence in Singapore is obviously as an escapee.

In April Howard Banwell photographed a red headed “Baya Weaver” ripping apart an uncompleted Baya Weaver’s (Ploceus philippinus) nest. Yong Ding Li suggested that it might be a Red-headed Quelea, one of those gregarious finches of the African grasslands. On the other hand it could well be a Cardinal Quelea (Quelea cardinalis) subspecies Rhodesia, which looks like the Red-headed Quelea (Zimmermann et al., 1999).

So, within a period of about two weeks, two sightings were made of the African weaver at opposite ends of the island. Is there a possibility that these queleas were released to coincide with a religious festival? Just a thought.

Image by GCSpyder.

Reference:
Zimmerman, D. A., D. A. Turner & D. J. Pearson, 1999. Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania. Russel Friedman Books CC. South Africa. 576 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.

“A series of photos show a guy catupulting birds foraging figs on a ficus tree. It was at a National Service camp in Kedah, Malaysia (left). I was told he can shoot at least a dozen of the birds per day. Many bird species frequented that ficus tree. He said that these small birds are delicious when deep fried.

“Photos show the unfortunate Black-headed Bulbul Black-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus atriceps). We were helpless, watching with dismay. I wonder whether this same incident happen in all the other National Service camps in Malaysia. A black chapter for this National Service camp.”

Above shows a youth taking aim at a bird (left) and close up of the weapon (right).

Above shows the slitting the bird’s throat (left) and the dead Black-headed Bulbul.