Angie Ng was at the offshore island of Pulau Ubin on the evening (1815 hours) of 22nd January 2008 when she saw an unusual spectacle:

“The Oriental Pied Hornbills (Anthracoceros albirostris) had gathered below the jetty beside the police post at 
Ubin last evening (above).

Managed to capture (of the total 15) only 10 on the rocks and 3 on the 
railing.
Sorry, pics of poor quality; am sending my other camera for repair!

Cheers for a wonder-ful day!”

These hornbills usually congregate high up on trees, moving to the ground to catch prey or collect lumps of mud during the nesting season. For them to gather on the beach in such number - can it be that there is food on the beach and the birds are scavenging there?

In Pangkor Island, Malaysia, these hornbills are doing just that - residents feed them with leftover food to attract them as a tourist attraction.

However, our bird specialist R Subaraj has this to say: “Possible but unlikely as the cleaners regularly remove all rubbish from there. Unless they were finding food brought in by the tide. Why so late then (low tide?)… just before roosting. They do probably gather and roost communally as I have seen a flock of 19 birds in a single flock at dawn… also at the police post. They possibly roost somewhere near there.”

When queried further, Angie has this to add; “We were on the jetty waiting to return to Changi when we saw the wave of hornbills descending on the rocks. They didn’t show signs of foraging; after a minute or so they flew off to the coconut (Cocos nucifera) and Sea Almond (Terminalia catappa) trees; then they came back to the rocks and a few to the railing. A few guides went closer to observe them and took a count, but the hornbills just moved about, flew to the trees and congregated on the beach again. We left the jetty a while later.”

Well, this may be a pre-roosting spot…

Image by Angie Ng.

There are 23 SE Asian species of typical owls that befit the description of nocturnal birds with rounded heads, large forward-facing eyes circumvented by feathered facial discs. Their plumage mostly brown and cryptically patterned, they hunt by night and roost by day.

While their roosting hide-outs are difficult to find, bird watchers at times when lady luck visits, do accidentally run into them.

Thus, finding a night bird in daylight hours is not only an infrequent encounter, the ability to digiscope them with no flash photography allows the bird to continue sleep without rudely being awakened. Such images are valued and carry good credits. That’s my opinion anyway and for which I am generous to show in image but not to be asked at source.

The Brown Boobook (Ninox scutulata) previously known as Brown Hawk Owl, decided to give me that privilege in one of my birding trips.

I was unable to tell the sex of owls but this 30cm bird suddenly flew in and perched on a low tree canopy. At 10 feet away, the Brown Boobook was head gyrating and sizing me up with its golden-yellow eyes (above).

“Oh.. I don’t know this bird and it is a lifer to me.”

Armed with birding luck which seems remain in eternity with me, the second bird showed up. As though not enough…. the third flew in and perched beside each other.

Soon, I was digiscoping three sleepy maids in a row (above).

Then…. beyond the wildest dreams of any birder who would dare ask for the fourth, this cute ‘Johnny 4’ showed up to make a foursome (right)!

What can I say more but sighting Pittas and Trogons that showed in twos and threes paled in comparison with encounter of this fourth kind.
I remembered being told that some birds sleep with their eyes opened. Now I am able to bring those bird eyes closer to readers to see for themselves if it is true.

The white covering over their eyes are called nictitating membranes. They help to protect the eyes and from drying out while birds sleep. At the same time, by keeping an opening eye or eyes opened, birds remain watchful for predators in their sleep.

To sleep-wink at readers, let me introduce Natasha - the juvenile Spotted Wood Owl (Strix seloputo) as the closing sleeping bird image that looks like a Russian doll (left).

Good night baby!

DAISY O’NEILL, AVIAN WRITER, PENANG, MALAYSIA.

Dr Chua Ee Kiam has generously agreed to share his image of a sleeping Banded Pitta (Pitta guajana) that he encountered in Danum Valley in Sabah, Malaysia recently (left).

Dr Chua recounts: “A Banded Pitta was peacefully asleep with its head beneath its wing. It was perched on a small branch at chest level perhaps to avoid snakes and other animals whose presence may cause the branch to move or vibrate. I have not seen such brilliant colours and never at such close-up. And it was so tempting to capture such an exquisite bird. The bird was left to continue its slumber.“

We first posted “What does a tailorbird do at night” in August 2007 showcasing a Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) sleeping in Taman Negara, Malaysia. Since then we have received images of Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis) and Common Tailorbird as well as a Chestnut-naped Forktail (Enicurus ruficapillus).

Much as we do not encourage people to disturb sleeping birds, we do need to document them for scientific purposes. Photographers are urged to restrain from disturbing the sleeping birds excessively when photographing them.

Note: Thanks to Ashley Ng and Daisy O’Neill, see responses below, we have the proper identification of the pitta and made the relevant corrections. The bird was wrongly stated as Blue-winged Pitta (Pitta moluccensis). The title of this piece has similarly been changed.

Input and image by Dr Chua Ee Kiam.

Since the posting of Sleeping Birds earlier on, a few people have written expressing concern about disturbing these birds in their sleep, especially when flash is used to photograph them.

Forest Ang is one such concerned person. He was at Maliau Basin, Sabah when he came across a sleeping bird when out frogging along a small stream one night (left). The sleeping bird had its head buried under its wing.

“I took this sleeping Chestnut-naped Forktail (Enicurus ruficapillus) on a branch over a running stream. It was curled into a ball. I saw several mosquitoes on its toes. I think it got a fright when it suddenly woke up to see a shining torchlight. It flew aimlessly like a drunken bird.

“I really felt sorry for the intrusion. Perhaps we photographers should restrain ourselves from getting too near. It could hit a tree and injure itself in the darkness.

“I had a few previous encounters with sleeping birds but all of them were not bothered with my presence.

“After the Chestnut-naped Forktail, I have been restraining myself from the urge to take pictures of sleeping birds…should we? What is your comment?”

See Forest Ang’s video here!

Yes, flashing sleeping birds may disturb them. As I earlier posted in reply to Serene, some birds may actually be disturbed, waking up for a moment, to go back to sleep. Others may be oblivious to the flashes and continue sleeping…

Personally, I think there is nothing wrong with taking photographs of sleeping birds, as long as we do not overdo it. It is the same with photographing nesting birds. How else do we add to our knowledge of bird behaviour? We do need such documentation. Taking photographs is a lesser “evil” than taking specimens of animals for study.

As long as we do things in moderation, we would not be disturbing the birds too much. It is only when a few photographers descend on the scene, each releasing a dozen or so flashes at the sleeping or even a nesting bird, that we are causing problems.

Input by Forest Ang, image from his webpage.

An earlier post of a sleeping Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) that looked like a tiny ball of feathers has spawned another report on sleeping birds by Eddie Lee. This time we have a few images of the tailorbird in dreamland as well as those of the Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis):

“I first noticed that the Olive-backed Sunbirds spent the night perching on tree branches a while ago, but didn’t pay much attention to them.

“Then on 28th May 2006 I saw a lone male Olive-backed perching on a tree branch under cover of darkness, presumably spending the night till daybreak. This time I was armed with a camera and took some shots of it at arm’s length distance (left). Incidentally the flash which illuminated the branches did not seem to disturb the bird at all. It continued with its seemingly deep sleep. The bird was seen on a few more occasions after this encounter and subsequently failed to return.

“On 25th March 2007 I caught sight of a pair of Common Tailorbird doing the same on a different type of plant. Managed to shoot some pictures. Again on 5th April, but only a single tailorbird returned to roost. The bird was once again photographed on 22nd July.

“All the pictures were taken between 8-9 pm (top and right). As I only visit the place during Sunday nights, I can only presume that the same bird returned to the same plant every night until recently when it was no longer to be seen.”

Most birders take it for granted that diurnal birds sleep at night. And that nocturnal birds do so during the day. We do look for sleeping nocturnal birds, especially owls but how many birdser look for sleeping diurnal birds at night? We are familiar with masses of roosting birds but individual birds? With this post we know that birds take different postures sleeping. Unlike the tailorbird, the sunbird does not tug its head under its wing. Both sleep while perched on a branch. I am sure there are birds that sleep on the ground.

It is hoped that photographer who are fascinated with birds will keep a look out for sleeping birds and share their images.

Input and images by Eddy Lee.