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.

Lena Chow videoed an Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca) with a skink clamped in its bill at the Panti Forest in Johor, Malaysia on the morning of 24th July 2010. She missed seeing the kingfisher catching the skink, noticing it only when the bird was perching on a branch. The skink had by then stopped struggling and remained lifeless in the kingfisher’s bill, head facing away and tail dangling towards the bird.

The kingfisher remained on the perch of some time, probably waiting to fly to its nest to feed its young. Usually is will not fly directly to its nest with a prey but transit nearby to ensure that the coast is clear before proceeding.

Kennie Pan photographed a Stork-billed Kingfisher (Halcyon capensis) manipulating a talapia it caught earlier before swallowing it (above left). In the course of bashing the struggling fish, something stringy trailed out from its mid-section (above right).

According to Marcus Ng, “the fish is a tilapia cichlid, a naturalised alien. The ’string’ doesn’t seem like a fishing line though. My guess is that the bird, perhaps while violently shaking or smacking the fish to kill it, squeezed some organ that ruptured and caused the contents or viscera to be ejected from a wound or the anus of the fish.”

Dr Khoo Hong Woo has this to add, referring to the possibility of the fish’s innards coming out from its anus: “Yes, that may be so since the first photo didn’t show any ’stringy’ stuff to indicate its a fishing line. Tilapias are herbivorous and they have very long tubular intestines and their ’shit’ comes out stringy and encased in a mucous tube. But there are several ‘plys’ so it could be the intestine being forced out. Too bad the photo showed it coming out of its gill space.”

Boon Leong’s (a.k.a. wokoti) study of the White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) shows the left eye closed (above left). As typical of birds, the lower eyelid moves up to cover the eye. The open eye is shown on the right.

This is a rare image showing the eye closed and the whitish eyelid contrasting sharply with the dark chestnut head area. Check out the eye movements of the Buffy Fish Owl HERE.

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

Earlier, Kennie Pan videoed an Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca) casting a pellet. This time around, he managed to photograph the casting, being alerted by the bobbing of the kingfisher’s head. So he got his camera ready…

The bird gaped and bobbed its head to show its tongue (above left). Then suddenly a dark round pellet appeared (above right) and dropped onto the ground. Immediately after, the kingfisher’s left eye was covered with its nictitating membrane (left) – an indication that it was about to go to sleep?

Images by Kennie Pan.

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