Wintering Raptors in Peninsular Malaysia - December 2019

Aside from waders, birds of prey are perhaps one of the most watched birds among birders. There are close to 26 species of migratory raptors that have been reliably recorded in Malaysia (Suara Enggang, Vol.19, 2011). Three most encountered raptor species over here are Oriental Honey Buzzard (almost 93%), Black Baza and Chinese Goshawk (Suara Enggang, Vol. 19, 2011). Peninsular Malaysia is an important transit point for migrant birds including raptors. Many migrating raptors passed through Peninsular Malaysia but some do winter here as well. There are three common migration routes used by these raptors (Suara Enggang, Vol.19, 2011) as do by some other migrating birds:

i) Eastern Inland Corridor - an overland route which starts from northern China snaking down through Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia.

ii) Coastal Pacific Corridor - a coastal route starting from east China, passing thru Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand.

iii) Oceanic Pacific Corridor - a route which uses the oceanic waterway from Japan, Taiwan, Philippine and Borneo.

All the above migration routes are part of a major route named East-Asian Australasian Flyway.

I was fortunate to come across a few wintering raptors recently. Most of them are OHBs and all of them were spotted in Kedah, a state in Northern Peninsular Malaysia. The most striking feature of raptors is in the variability of their plumage when view from below and their identification depends very well on our knowledge of their morphological and plumage characteristics. 

The above Oriental Honey Buzzard (OHB) is most likely an adult male orientalis showing dark eye, grey head and thick trailing edge on the wings. This OHB has only eight tail feathers and they were enough to take it across several continents to reach here. According to Robert DeCandido et al (2015), adults OHB usually migrate first before the juveniles which fly in from October onwards. I believe this OHB will stay around until March next year. By then, its feathers will probably molted well enough to prepare it for the long journey home. 

The OHB below has a gorget which almost covering its entire neck and face. 

Apparently there are three general plumage that can be observed on OHBs:

              i) Intermediate morph

                          ii) Light morph / rufous morph

iii) Dark morph

I think the above OHB could be an adult female orientalis from the intermediate morph showing partially grey head with light sub-terminal band. Note that this OHB has only 5 'fingers' as compared to the usual 6 'fingers'.

The above OHB should be an adult male orientalis from the dark morph. Aside from having dark eyes, male OHB shows dark primary tips and has boldly barred tail.

Watching raptors alone can be tiring. They can come from different directions - front, back, top, left and right. In one second they can be over the tree tops or beyond your eye sight. So your head will need to be constantly rotated 360 degrees. The OHB below appeared silently from my back.

I have some difficulty identifying the morph of the OHB below.

Could it be an immature "Western Honey Buzzard" or perhaps a sub-adult from the ruficollis race?

Note: it has 6 'fingers' instead

Aside from OHB, Black Baza had also 'subscribed' Peninsular Malaysia as their stop-over location. Apparently during the autumn migration, Black Baza is reported to migrate later than OHB. Hence they are most likely to be the last to depart as well (during spring migration).

Black Baza is the best dressed raptor in this world to me.

Generally the best moments to watch raptors are in the early mornings or late evenings. In between those times, here are a few conditions which can enhance your chances of watching them (based on my personal experience):

i) the sky should have some clouds and not just pure blue skies.

ii) some steady breeze should be present.

iii) when you can see some swifts / bee-eaters up in the sky.

Female Japanese Sparrowhawk

OHB and Japanese Sparrowhawks are reported to depart earlier than other raptors during the spring migration. The theory explaining this phenomenon was that they breed further up the equator and they need a head start to reach their breeding site in time for the breeding season. Female Sparrowhawks tends to fly higher than male but the above accipiter was seen just above the oil palm trees. Most likely it was just coming out from its overnight roosting area and was preparing to soar higher. 

I have read somewhere which says that some Crested Serpent Eagle are migratory raptors as well. 

Science without humanity is like a car without its accessories and tires !

HAVE A GREAT NEW DECADE AHEAD !

Parental Behavior - A Lesson from Nature

More and more cases of abused children have appeared in the media lately. Majority of the abuse cases have occurred from the very hands of their paternal parents. Some of these children may suffer psychological trauma throughout their lives as a result of the abuse while some have resulted in death (either voluntary or involuntary). In most cases child maltreatment occurs when parents could not adapt to the massive changes in their environment when resources are inadequate to cope with the demand of parenting. Battered-child syndrome are as likely to happen in one culture as another. 

How then does one culture protect children from abuse? Over in the eastern world particularly in this region, child bearing is often considered a 'community' project. The help of extended family, older children and other community could just help to mitigate/decrease pressure on parents. Child abuse is also rare in cultures where the mothers are not routinely isolated from other adults or what we termed as "social isolation". In another scenario a culture's expectation for the behavior of children may also protect against child abuse. The indigenous tribe of New Guinea, for example , believe that children are unable to reason before the age of six or seven. Younger children are thus rarely punished for misdeeds because they are not expected to know better. 

Parental behavior such as carrying, protecting, food sharing, grooming and playing in primates including those of the callitrichid species has been observed as similarly as human beings. In the study of primates, the development of an emotional bond of attachment with their mother (i.e distinguishing the mother from others, maintaining contact and recovering contact) has been extensively studied in macaques species. In macaque infants, they could distinguish their mothers from other females visually within a few days and tactually or auditorily in just a few weeks after birth (Rachel M. Williams, Ed. 2011). Macaque infants form attachments selectively for their mothers while infant marmosets may form attachments to their various caretakers. Unlike macaque mothers, common marmosets (both mothers and fathers) do not recognise their own infants, at least during the 1st few weeks after birth.

Recently i came across a bunch of monkeys (i mean real monkeys ! - long-tail macaque in this case) while strolling at a nearby recreational forest. I stopped for a moment to observe some of their parental behavior which perhaps some parents could emulate. Have a look at the photos below:

It started with a dose of fresh milk.

The mother then place the infant on a  branch. 

She sat close by to observe the child finding its way up the branch.

Occasionally she would hold the branch to ensure that its not too wobbly for the child to climb.

OK dear that is high enough. Let go back and watch doraemon at home.

Yay lets go !

Changeable Hawk Eagle (pale morph)

Soar like an eagle but stay humble like a lamb !


Mucho Gracias !

The Courtship and Nesting Behavior of Coppersmith Barbet and Eurasian Tree Sparrow

INTRODUCTION

Field observations are pertinent to the science of birdwatching. There's where all the primary data are collected and analysed by scientists.  An understanding of nest-site behavior of birds could also provide valuable insights to conservationists on how they can develop conservation programmes on habitat requirements for cavity-nesters such as barbets, woodpeckers, hornbills and in this case Eurasian Tree Sparrow as well. Like humans, many species of animals do engage in some sort of courtship display with an ultimate aim of luring a suitable mate. Most of these courtship displays are performed by males as i have observed.

LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Melissa Mayntz (2019), the exact type of courtship displays can vary greatly between species. Even birds of the same species may also show different courtship variations in different regions. Generally the courtship behavior of birds can be divided into the following types (Melissa Mayntz, 2019):

i) By way of singing - occurs in many bird species. I have also learnt that some native tribes in China and Africa do sing as well to attract his female partner. If the female partner sings back, the chances of marrying her will be very high indeed.   

ii) By way of dancing - remember the bird which does the "moon walk" in Papua or the long-tailed widow bird which jumps up and down. Thank God i do not need to do this.

iii) By way of display - like the magnificent Tragopan, Great Argus, the Indian Peacock, Mountain Peacock Peasant etc.

iv) By way of preening - i have seen this behavior especially among the parrot species.

v) By way of feeding - this behavior will be highlighted in this report.

vi) By way of nest building -  like the bower bird.

I was very fortunate to have witnessed the affectionate courtship behavior of a Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala indica) leading to their nest excavation activity. At the same time the Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus malaccensis) were there as well to share some moments of their nesting behavior.  

STUDY AREA

An old and half dead durian tree located in a small wooded area close to human habitation. Note: this same old abandoned durian tree has been successfully used many times by the coppersmith barbet to raise their offsprings. 

FIELD OBSERVATION

Observation was only carried out for a day from 9.30am (in the case of the Eurasian Tree Sparrow) and around noon for the Coppersmith Barbet. I will start with the courtship behavior of the Coppersmith Barbet.

As i sat down under a shaddy rambutan tree not too far away, i noticed a male Coppersmith Barbet (above) flew in with a big fruit (which i presumed was a fig) in between its bill. 

The male Coppersmith Babbet then proceeded to give the fruit to the female.

which she has gracefully accepted.

Not satisfied she requested for the last remaining bits.

Once done she asked whether he could get more but the male bird told her that nope ! its time to get to "work" !

So she flew down to check on a cavity. 

Before entering she checked its surrounding. 

Once clear she enter the nest cavity. At this point i was thinking that there could be some nestling (s) inside.

Holy Smoke ! to my huge surprise she was actually excavating the cavity. While this cavity excavation work took center stage, the male bird was no where to be seen. Perhaps he went to look for more figs ?

This is probably the first documentary proof that a female coppersmith barbet has to do all the hard work in nest building and as well as egg laying. Fortunately both parents took part in feeding the nestlings as reported in my earlier post back in February 2013. Otherwise she probably would have proceeded to file a divorce paper.

At the same time i have been observing several Eurasian Tree Sparrow (ETS) which have gathered around on the same durian tree in the morning. Then i noticed one of them was having something on its bill.

It looks like a seed or perhaps a piece of a bread.

It then flew up to a trunk. That was when i noticed that it was using an abandoned cavity and it was an active nest !

A view from another angle.

You can see that the food item was still on its bill.

Making sure the fledgling gets the food correctly.

The ETS then proceeded to give it to the nearest fledgling.

Then the ETS tried again and again. The nestlings were fed regularly at 5 - 10 minutes intervals.



At one time the ETS (not sure whether it was the same ETS) was also seen discarding feces of the nestlings as shown by the photo below.

The ETS did not drop the feces below the nesting cavity but instead it took it further away,

DISCUSSION

Many birds species have placed their nest in cryptic / out-of-reach sites to avoid predation. Nesting inside isolated host trees is one of them. The host tree in this case was an old durian tree of about 30 meters high. The Coppersmith Barbet's nest was about 15 feet from the ground while the ETS cavity was slightly higher at about 20 feet. See the tree illustration below.

Although studies have reported that higher cavities may be difficult for predators to detect the audible sound of begging nestlings but it appears that the Eurasian Tree Sparrow (ETS) in this case may have just been an opportunist secondary-cavity nesters i.e using the decayed trunk as an ephemeral nesting resource.

The cavity nest of the Coppersmith Barbet meanwhile was freshly dug-out with a typically round/oval shape entrance.

The above examples have also provided the following intriguing facts:

i) that different species of cavity nesting passerine have no qualms of sharing the same tree for their breeding activities.

ii) that a female Coppersmith Barbet does assist in nest building activities as well.

Although this brief and limited observation may not qualify as a scientific report but i believe it has provided some fascinating insights of the courtship and nesting behavior of a Coppersmith Barbet and the Eurasian Tree Sparrow.


References: https://www.thespruce.com/bird-courtship-behavior-386714

ITS A GOOFY WORLD OUT THERE. MAKE THE BEST OUT OF YOUR LIFE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!

Science is not all about new discoveries. Sometimes it can just be about refining a simple technique such as the techniques to detect so-called exoplanets which was researched by Michel Mayor, a Swiss Nobel Prize winner 2019 for Physics.

Land of the Apes and other Primates - Aug 2019

While waiting for migrant birds to return to our shores (some of them are already here in small batches for example the waders), i took the opportunity to explore a forest reserve in a northern state of Peninsular Malaysia recently. The place looks a bit like the location of Chongkak, Selangor but the jungles here are more pristine. There were however more mammals than birds in this forest. The absence of sharma and other song birds here are a cause for concern in this forest. They have probably been wiped out for the bird trade. Nevertheless the primates here seem to strive pretty well. 

The first great ape to greet me was this "White-Handed Gibbon" (Hylobates lar). 

I believe this is a female. She came down quite low to observe me for a moment before scrambling back to the tree top. Note: local primate researchers Dr Susan Lappan and Dr Nadine confirmed that the above gibbon is an adult female.

She is a lifer to me in terms of the great apes. This gibbon is currently listed as an endangered species and it is rightly so because i have never come across this species so far in my many birding trips across the peninsular. I think its population here is doing quite well as i saw at least 5 different individuals. Unfortunately no juveniles were seen. Here are a few more of them:

The one above is much browner and has kept its distance from me. Despite their big size they can swing easily among the tree branches just like the ones in the music video from the song "Adventure of a Lifetime". Notice the white color of its hand !

The one below was however quite aggressive. From the wider whitish outline around its face, i think it could be an alpha male. He was calling out loud and at the same time shaking the branches around him - probably trying to scare me off! Their calls are not as booming as the Siamangs but they are on a higher pitch.

All the above gibbons were seen from different trees about 50 meters apart.

Swinging nearby (about 100 meters away) were a few Dusky Langur (Trachypithecus obscurus). They are probably the 3rd most commonest primate you can encounter in the jungles over in this region after the naughty "Long-tailed Macaque" and the "Pig-tailed Macaque".

Dusky Langur (as observed) are also quite agile but hardly make any sound.

There were only two of them seen but could be more.


Parental guidance and viewers discretion are required for the next photo.

Shame ! Shame ! Forget to wear your nappy?

There was a troop of about 10 Pig-tailed Macaques seen. The one above was the alpha male who stopped at a tree trunk to observe me while the rest ran deep into the forest. They are not canopy dwellers as compared to the above two primates as they were seen foraging on the ground before my presence. If you are a primatologist, this would be an ideal place for your research and conservation works as there were 3 different species of primates seen within a radius of 500 meters..

There were also other mammals seen here for example Giant Squirrels (Ratufa bicolor and R. affinis).

R.affinis

I think the above should be R. bicolor as its overall color is darker.

Most of the birds seen here can also be seen at your usual birding spots such as Black headed Bulbul, Gold-whiskered Barbet, Sooty Barbet, Abbott's Babbler etc. Here are just a few decent photos of them:

Spectacle Spiderhunter

Green Iora

Crested Serpent Eagle

Red-throated Sunbird

Thank you for watching !