1. “I was with Elena who spotted the Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis) with her sharp eyes in the front garden. Elena stood fascinated, looking on intently at the bird. We could not identify whether it was a centipede or a millipede in its mouth. Upon clarification, it turned out that the Oriental Magpie Robin had a centipede in its mouth. A wonderful friend of mine, Shawn Lum, commented, ‘The Magpie Robin has a centipede in its mouth – you can tell this because each segment of its body has one pair of legs (millipedes have two pairs of legs per segment). It’s amazing how the bird has grabbed the centipede by the head (can you see the centipede’s ‘fangs’ – its mouth parts, actually protruding just beyond the bird’s beak?), and thus cannot be bitten by the centipede. That’s really cool!’ Elena was ever so thrilled as this was one of her first birding experiences. I could not have spotted this bird if it wasn’t for Elena Goh’s razor sharp eyes.”

2. “While sitting in the garden one day, I heard this rather unusual noise and suddenly, this bird flew past me. I could not identify what it was but I was surprised to see it land and calmly perch itself on a tree. Amazingly, it was so well camouflaged with its surroundings that it was close to impossible to spot unless someone looked very carefully. It turned out to be a green parakeet. Its feathers were beautiful shades of green and its beak, a lovely orange shade. It was truly intriguing to see it sitting on the tree as though it was specially posing and inviting me to take a photograph of it. I am so lucky -beautiful birds in my backyard.”

Georgina Tanya Sandhu-Chin
Singapore
20th August 2010

“An escapee parakeet that could either be a Blossom-Headed Parakeet (Psittacula roseata) or Plum-Headed Parakeet (P. cynocephala) was documented by Jason Cho at Pasir Ris carpark in October 2007. There is a high probability that the same individual was observed on 25th July 2010. The exotic escapee parakeet resembled the bird previously documented and was similarly seen near a carpark at Pasir Ris. It was in peaceful existence with a few Red-Breasted Parakeets.

“Initially, two inquisitive parakeet chicks were spotted peeping out from their nesting cavity that was located high in a branch of a tall albizia tree (Paraserianthes falcataria). The escapee parakeet arrived and landed on a tiny stem in front of the nest a short distance away (left). Within a short moment, an adult female Red-Breasted Parakeet arrived to land behind the nesting cavity before making its way to the front of the nest. The Red-Breasted must be the chicks’ mother. How about the escapee parakeet? Could it be the father? Could the chicks be offspring from cross breeding between the two closely related species?

“To confuse matters, another two adult Red-Breasted Parakeets joined them, making a total of three adult Red-Breasted and the lone escapee. Suddenly, wings were fluttering as the Red-Breasted switched positions while the escapee remained on its stem (above left). One of the birds flew to perch on top of the broken end of the branch which housed the nesting cavity. Seconds later, the escapee parakeet, which was peacefully perched until then, was dislodged by one of the Red-Breasted (above right). The escapee ended up perched on an almost vertical stem between two Red-Breasted Parakeets - one above and one below it. They remained in that position for more than 3 minutes without further provocation (below).

“The action ended with all the adult parakeets flying to the crown of an adjacent tree, probably to roost for the night. The parakeet chicks, which had by now disappeared into the cavity, were left all alone in the comfort of the nest.

“I was left wondering about the complex relationships between the escapee (Plum-Headed or Blossom-Headed) Parakeet and the Red-Breasted Parakeets. Unlike the noisy squawking sounds of the Red-Breasted, the escapee’s calls were of higher pitch and closer to whistling. Somehow, they must have learned to communicate with each other.

“Over the next two weekends, I returned to check on the nesting cavity but was unable to locate the birds. The nest seemed empty and both the chicks and the adult parakeets were nowhere to be seen. The chicks must have fledged.”

Kwong Wai Chong
Singapore
11th August 2010

“I have just been watching two Straw-headed Bulbuls (Pycnonotus zeylanicus) on a tree outside my study pulling pink petals off bauhinia flowers and eating them. I have never seen this before. Is it rare?” queried Richard Hale on 4th August 2010.

The bauhinia is Blake’s bauhinia or Hongkong orchid tree (Bauhinia x blakeana). It is a hybrid, perhaps between B. variegata and B. purpurea. This is a smallish tree, sparsely branched and popularly grown in gardens for its attractive pink flowers. The leaves are deeply notched, looking like the wings of butterflies.

Birds eating flower petals is not uncommon, as seen with: Pink-necked Green Pigeon and simpoh, Long-tailed Parakeet and simpoh, Long-tailed Parakeet and seram palm, Blue-naped Parrot and sea almond and Red-whiskered Bulbul and starfruit.

Sun Chong Hong observed a female rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri) feasting on the fruits of the peacock flower (Caesalpinia pulcherrima). This is a sparse woody shrub native to tropical Americas but widely grown throughout the tropics. It is a popular garden plant with free flowering colourful flowers.

In the condominium where Chong Hong lives, two types are grown, both about a metre tall. There is one with red flowers (C. pulcherrima) (above left) and another with yellow flowers (C. pulcherrima var. flava) (above right).

The parakeet was seen on the plant with yellow flowers, handling the green pods to get at the seeds. Grabbing the pods with one foot, the parakeet used its sharp, curved bill to extract the seeds (below left). The discarded pods as well as uneaten seeds were left littering the ground below (below right).

Writes Chong Hong, “I only realised there was a pair as they flew away when someone walked past the plant.”

Angie Ng, a plant ehthusiast, adds, “I used to enjoy seeing these Rose-ringed Parakeets feeding on the peacock flowers, in my neighbour’s garden. Don’t see them now, probably because no more of these shrubs are planted.”

Images by Sun Chong Hong.

“I was doing my research and heard this loud tweeting sound - and decided to investigate and lo and behold - these gorgeous wild Blue-crowned Hanging Parrots (Loriculus galgulus) were feeding on the mango tree (Mangifera indica) in my front garden. I could not believe it but the green made it slightly hard to spot them. I grabbed my camera and got some shots, not the best but you can tell that there were definitely hanging parrots -1 May 2010. Absolutely gorgeous colors.”

Georgina Tanya Sandhu-Chin
Singapore
1st May 2010
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Note: We have earlier posts on the Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot eating rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum), guave (Psidium guajava), and oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) fruits.

Image by Georgina Tanya Sandhu-Chin.