At the Keledang Sayong Forest Reserve in Perak, Malaysia on 24th April 2010, Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS observed what he believes to be a maternal protective behaviour.

He was watching a female Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum cruentatum) and a juvenile that was noisly begging for food. The adult was feeding it with the fruit of Melastoma malabathricum. The male was not around.

“As I was watching at eye level, from about 3-4 meters, the female stopped and flew straight at me, eye level,” recounted Amar. “There have been very few instances where birds have flown straight at me. It then flew past my head to settle just behind me to feed in some mistletoe. The juvenile did not follow.”

“I turned to watch at less than a meter. She continued to do this for about a minute. She seemed satisfied that my attention was now on her, and not the juvenile, then flew back to the original Melastoma plant to continue feeding the juvenile,” continued Amar. “I felt this behaviour was ‘protective parenting’ and decided the leave them without further disturbance/observation. I offer this observation as a possible mechanism by this flowerpecker to distract a potential threat from a juvenile.”

For an account of the Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker and Melastome malabathricum as well as images of the bird and plant, please see HERE.

“Tambun is a small town on the outskirts of Ipoh that has, in the past 10 years, been engulfed by the city. Now considered a suburban area with large properties and garden.

“Came across this sprawling Ficus benjamina that was fruiting extensively. Full of ‘common’ birds feeding together. There was some minor conflict, but generally enough food to keep everyone busy.

“I have grouped the birds seen over a two hour period into three groups as below:

“Birds seen feeding on Ficus benjamina ‘fruits’:
1. Pink-necked Green Pigeon (Treron vernans): 4-6 (2-3 pairs) (above left).
2. Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis maculates): 10-12, 2-3 were juvenile feeding independently (above centre).
3. Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis strigata): a flock (more like a swarm) (above right).
4. Yellow Vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier analis): 6-8 (mostly adult pairs) (below left).
5. Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala indica): 4-5, 3 were juvenile feeding independently (below centre).
6. Lineated Barbet (Megalaima lineata hodgsoni): one pair.
7. Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius madoci) feeding on fallen ‘fruits’ – they forage on the ground and do not seem to pick ‘fruits’ off the tree.

“Birds suspected to feeding on Ficus benjamina ‘fruits’:
1. Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis tristis): one pair, seen checking out ‘fruits’ in tree, actual feeding not seen (above right).
2. Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica): one adult noted in tree but not seen feeding, flew off soon after I came.
3. Peaceful Dove (Geopelia striata) – seen picking on old ‘fruits’ that had dropped on to the pavement below (below left).

“Birds using the Ficus benjamina ‘fruits’ feeding frenzy to get other animal prey:
1. Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia horizoptera) – one pair foraging for caterpillars (above centre).
2. Pied Triller (Lalage nigra striga) – one male foraging for animal prey (above right).”

[The above images show the Coppersmith Barbet's feeding behaviour - pecking off a piece from a fig and then taking the remainder between its mandibles to squash it before swallowing.]

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Tambun, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
16th May 2010

“I would like to use this post to make a suggestion based on a number of observations about the feeding behaviour of the Lineated Barbet (Megalaima lineata hodgsoni).

“Firstly, the Lineated Barbet is known to take small birds as prey - flowerpecker and Eurasian Tree Sparrow. Whether this is for self or for chicks we are uncertain (possibly for juveniles).

“I have also recently seen the Crested Goshawk (Accipiter trivirgatus peninsulae) furiously chasing a Lineated Barbet with the barbet yelping in terror. See HERE.

“Last week my wife and I saw a raptor nest while out cycling early. We both thought we saw a juvenile in the nest. I went back later to have a look and found a Lineated Barbet feeding in the nest (left). I was too far to identify what was taken.

“My suggestion: When I saw the Crested Goshawk chasing a Lineated Barbet I assumed it was for a meal for juveniles or self. But could it be that the Lineated Barbet has a habit of robbing nest for chicks and the Crested Goshawk was acting out of anger to chase away a predator from its nesting site?

“Appreciate views from readers’ observations.”

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh City, Perak, Malaysia
18th April 2010

“I was at Sugei Tampines in Pasir Ris on 5th June 2010 at 9am when I saw a group of Black-crowned Night Herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) perched on the same tree in the open which is very strange because normally they are quite solitary birds and prefer to perch hidden in the bushes.

“Some distance away, a huge flock of crows were chasing a few Grey Herons (Ardea cinerea) and this might have agitated the night herons. Several times, lots of night herons will suddenly start flying around when the crows start provoking the Grey Herons which in turn will agitate the night herons. I estimated spotting about 12 night herons at one time, some flying and some perching.”

Thong Chow Ngian
Singapore
5th June 2010

Dr Jeff Lim’s encounter with an inexperienced pair of breeding Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus) in May 2010 ended in tragedy. Jeff needed some persuasion to post his observation, as he would have preferred a story with a happy ending. However, he has been convinced that this is an interesting behaviour that has not been reported by most observers.

The pair of pipits built their nest well camouflaged in a bushy plant and laid three eggs (above left). Unfortunately the plant was right in the middle of a garden. And into the third week of nesting, an egg was lost when the gardener exposed the straw colored dome by trimming, leaving the contents perfectly exposed to the elements (above centre).

The brooding parent took pains to shelter their exposed eggs from rain and fought hard with the pair of nesting Long-Tailed Shrikes (Lanius schach) raiding their nest. The pipits lost and the nest was abandoned, leaving behind two spotty eggs with one broken (above right). As Jeff puts it, “Notice the nest transformation from one of order to the current disarray.”