In many Asian countries, exotic wildlife attracts, not to view but to feast. Many eat exotic wildlife for various superstitious beliefs. And China was where Roger Moo a.k.a. cactus400D had his first encounter with the slaughter of the extremely beautiful Golden (Chrysolophus pictus) and Lady Amherst’s Pheasants (C. amherstiae) for food (above).

It was on the road to Zhangjiajie in the province of Hunan that he encountered a row of shops offering these peasants as well as a hog badger (Arctonyx collaris), identified by Haniman from the image shown in the earlier post.

He also saw another bird offered to tourists - Chinese Bamboo-partridge (Bambusicola thoracica) (above). This bird is native to the bamboo forests of South China and Taiwan. Although not globally threatened, it is becoming uncommon in China through habitat destruction and over hunting.

For US$50 or thereabout, you can have a pheasant prepared and cooked on the spot. A partridge no doubt would cost less (above).

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

Roger Moo a.k.a. cactus400D was in China around April 2008 when he visited Zhangjiajie in the province of Hunan, a popular tourist destination. Along the way, he stopped at a place called ‘Kingdom Village (Town of Fu Rong) - Wang Village’ and documented his most interesting encounter (above).

What he saw was some of the most beautiful local birds, pheasants mainly. But they were not in their natural habitat. Rather, they were prominently displayed in the front of the many shops along the main road (left). These shops were selling exotic meat for tourists, mainly local wildlife.

The most prominent birds displayed appeared to be the Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus), also called Chinese Pheasant (below). These were hung with their full colourful plumage and long tail feathers dangling. The spectacularly beautiful male pheasant has a golden crest and rump, bright red body and exceedingly long and pointed tail feathers.

Also seen was the Lady Amherst’s Pheasant (C. amherstiae).

These birds come from the forests of the mountainous areas of western China.

All images by Roger Moo except Golden Pheasant by YC.

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

Vesak Day in Singapore falls on 19th May 2008. On the eve of that day, Tang Hung Bun came across a pair of strange birds at Venus Link (below). Puzzled at the identity of these birds, he posted the images in the BESG’s forum.

Jeremy Lee was the first to respond, identifying one of them as Peach-faced Lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis). Tan Kok Hui similarly identified it as the blue form of the Peach-faced Lovebird.

Summerian Turks added, “These are lovebirds (Agapornis sp). From the pictures I can only id confidently the bird on the left as the Peach-faced Lovebird (A. roseicollis) and the other could possibly be a Masked Lovebird (A. personatus) judging from its white-eye ring (can’t see the face well). But these birds are definitely lovebirds. Commonly found in the bird trade and I am certain they are someone’s pets.”

YC countered, “The front-faced bird looks like a Gray-headed Lovebird (A. canus), a male. Peach-faced has a red face.”

But Summerian stated that “A. canus is not in the Singapore bird market for a long long time and they die easily in captivity and some aviculturists here say due to our hot, humid weather. Plus Madagascar, where they originate, is birdflu country and the local authorities do not allow imports from there. There are many varieties of peach-face mutations in aviculture. This is one of them. A. canus is not in our market. Not to my knowledge at least.

“…The abandoned specimens, if I’m not wrong, are the Pastel Blue or the Dilute Blue. They have been hybridised even with A. fischeri and A. personatus and all the subsequent mutations that you actually get a variety of rojaks (mixture) in aviculture. Usually if they are hybridised with an A. personatus or A. fischeri, most mutations retain the characteristic white eye ring with the body having a variety of colors ranging from blue to shades of green and cinnamon, depending on the parent birds. This is from my experience with my flock a long time ago. Another commonly found mutation of Peach-face in Singapore are the Lutino Red Face. They are all yellow with the face being red… I have seen an all grey and diluted yellow Peach-face Lovebird mutations here. The color varieties are amazing.”


Vesak Day commemorates the birth and enlightenment of Lord Buddha and his entry into Nirvana. Among the various rituals that Buddhists undertake is the release of caged birds, animals and even insects. This signifies giving freedom to those in captivity

This practice of releasing animals has resulted in an increase in exotic species in our rural environment as devotees purchase caged animals from pet shops to release them. Unfortunately, these are not local species and many are unable to survive in the wild and eventually succumb to predation or simply die. Others are able to out-compete the indigenous species to eventually displace them.

The lovebirds found by Hung Bun may possibly be released by devotees on the eve of Vesak Day. The chances of their survival are slim. I am sure those responsible are not aware of the misery they are inflecting on these birds.

The National Parks Board has been at the forefront of educating the public and trying very hard to persuade people not to release exotic animals with varying success.

On 10th March 2008, Choo Teik Ju was disturbed to find a dead heron dangling from the branch of a tree in the Marsh Garden at West Coast Park (left). One of its wings was entangled by a discarded fishing line, no doubt left by an irresponsible amateur angler.

Teik Ju visits the park almost every weekend to jog and bird watch. Invariably he found the areas around the Marsh Garden littered with discarded fishing lines. Many were dangling from the branches of trees and these obviously pose a danger to the wildlife there.

According to Teik Ju, “The Marsh Garden is home to Lesser Whistling-duck, Common Moorhen,
 White-breasted Waterhen, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Chinese Pond Heron, Cinnamon
 Bittern, Common Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, Great Egret,
 Black-crowned Night Heron, Grey Heron, Owls and Eagles.”


He contacted the National Parks Board and was informed that the park is regularly patrolled by rangers. He was also informed that fishing is disallowed in the Marsh Garden.

Anglers need to be told that they should not leave fishing lines indiscriminately around and that such irresponsible behaviour is tantamount to littering.

Besides, it is illegal to fish in the Marsh Garden.

On 25th February 2008, KC Tsang circulated the following account:

“It is sad to see this very regal-looking bird end up 
this way in someone’s cage in Bintan, Indonesia. Could it be
 for the better? I found this out from two very
 reliable sources. One was an Indian couple I met at a party, and 
the other, a person who was able to supply these pictures.

The Himalayan Vulture (Gyps himalayensis), also known as Himalayan Griffon, is now caged in a resort there.

“I was told that it was
 caught while feeding on a pig’s carcass in a pig farm.
 I am just wondering how is it that a pig’s carcass was
 left rotting, and for the vulture to come and feed on
 it.

“As it was so hungry, it was not too concerned with 
humans coming close enough to capture it.
 The time of capture of this beautiful bird, I was told, 
was sometime last year, I would hazard a guess, some
time November, December?



“So if there is some one out there who has more information on this bird, please do let us have it.”

This vulture is resident of Central Asia and the Himalayas. So far, a number of birds have been recorded to migrate as far south as Singapore since 1989. In January 1992 a small flock of nine birds were photographed at roost by J Smith and Morten Strange at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. As recent as 23rd January this year, we have sightings of three birds, two of which were photographed by Lee Tiah Khee flying over Bukit Timah.

Previously known to be sedentary and only migrating altitudinally, these vultures are more and more seen south of its normal range. This may be suggestive of an irruption or a range expansion of the species (Wang & Hails, 2007).

Wang. L.K. & Hails, C. J. (2007). An annotated checklist of birds of Singapore. Raffles Bull. Zool. Suppl. 15:1-179.