Kit & Herman Year 2

[Kitsafari]

17/SG17: Common Myna,  Lorong Halus

 

The native common myna can still be seen in woodlands or nature parks. It has a brown plumage and yellow skin around its eyes. 

 

[Kitsafari]

18/SG18: Savannah Nightjar, Eastwood

 

Herman had staked out a location a few times hoping to catch a  glimpse of the savannah nightjar, a less common bird than the large-tailed nightjar. At the same time, I had been hearing the nightjar calls when I used to stay up through the night nursing our dog last year. Recently, the calls returned, and finally we saw it - trying to nap on our neighbour's roof tiles. But because it was in plain sight, the bulbuls could not tolerate its presence and chased it off. But not before Herman and I got our shots! 

 

 

 

[Galana]

Lovely tale as always about the Java Mynah problem. The hosepipe is fine as is the use of "secondaries' although the main part appears to be wing coverts.

And what a nice opportunistic photo of the Nightjar. I suppose a stretch of roof tiles could well be taken for the open Savannah.

[Kitsafari]

@Galana Herman and I were chatting about that rather misleading "savannah" since there isn't much savannah to be had in Southeast Asia or India, but perhaps in China and Australia - all countries where it is found. 

It does, though, prefer grassland, open stony space and scrubland which could have given it its name.  as you say, perhaps the large area of open roof tiles beat bushes, cars, tar roads, trees as favourite spots to roost. 

[Kitsafari]

19/SG19: Pink-necked green pigeon, Eastwood/Kent Ridge Park

 

This is quite widespred in SIngapore but not found in urban areas. They are rather shy birds. the beautiful male spots a pink neck, nape and upper breast, and an orange/rusty breast with a green body. the female is all green . Both have pink eyes. 

 

 

Female: 

 

Male: 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

20/SG20: Japanese sparrowhawk, Eastwood

 

The Japanese sparrowhawk migrates to southeast Asia from northern Asian. The female was still around my neighbour's backyard until late January when my neighbour decided to chop the mango tree in half, and so doing, took away the roosting place for a number of bird species, and a resting place for the sparrowhawk. 

the females have yellow irises and barred underpants. we haven't seen it since but now will be the time for its flight back north. 

 

[Peter Connan]

Magnificent sightings in your neighborhood once again! Even a nightjar! Wow.

[Kitsafari]

21/SG21: Olive-backed Sunbird, Eastwood

 

there are 7 species of sunbirds in Singapore, and the olive-backed sunbird is one of the more commonly found. It is quite used to human traffic and so quite accommodating, assuming one has quick reflexes to catch the flighty bird. it sings its lungs out first thing in the morning. While its back is a dull olive, its throat is a flashy luminous blue that glows in the sun. the female looks like any other female sunbird  species - they are tough to ID. 

 

Male: 

 

 

female: 

[Kitsafari]

22/SG22: Ashy Tailorbird, Eastwood

 

a small and very flighty bird that dashes from bush to tree to bush to tree. it's a challenge to get it staying still. This is an amazing bird that builds nests by rolling up the leaves and, using its bill, sewing the leaves together using plant fibres and spiderweb threads that it gathers in the surrounding areas. 

 It's one of four local tailorbird species, the other three being common, rufous-tailed and dark-headed tailorbirds - all very tough to see. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

23: Common Flameback , Eastwood

 

A relatively common woodpecker species found mainly in gardens, parks, wooded areas. 

 

Male

 

female: 

Edited April 14, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

24/SG24: Sunda Pgymy Woodpecker, Eastwood

 

This is the smallest and rather dull looking woodpecker species found in Singapore, about the size of a eurasian tree sparrow. But its sounds are unmistakable when they get excited making a sort of a trilling noise. A pair made a nest in a tree next to our home but the hole faced the road and we didn't want to disturb the nesting. but the pair made frequent visits to feed the young which has already fledged and flown off. The male spots a red streak on the side of the hind crown. 

 

[Galana]

Lovely photos. More please!

[xelas]

It is astonishing to see that many that colourful birds from Singapore, which is a tiny itself, and heavily built up. Thanks for all the time spent in bring us their jewels, @Kitsafari!

[Kitsafari]

25/SG25: Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot, Eastwood 

 

This is a small parrot that is distributed in southern Thailand to Indonesia/Borneo. it likes to hang around forest edges, but the clearance of many wooded areas, they've come into the suburban areas which have a lot of trees. they are hard to see as their green bodies and small size works very well in camouflaging them. But you can hear them - they often give out a high shrill, sounding like the sunda pygmy woodpecker (often fooling me). the male has a red patch on its breast and is a brilliant green, while female is a duller green and lacks the red patch.

 

Female: 

Edited April 15, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

26/SG26: Red-breasted Parakeet, Eastwood

 

The red-breasted parakeet is a non-native species that is slowly pushing out the native long-tailed parakeet. It is found in sub-continent India to southern China and  Southeast Asia. 

 

Juv - the red breast is slowly forming

 

adult

[Kitsafari]

27/SG27: Pied Triller, Eastwood/Harvest Lane

 

This is a common resident bird, but difficult to be sighted as it likes to move around the tree tops. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

28/SG28: Brown shrike, Eastwood

 

this is one of three shrike species seen in Singapore and sometimes it gets confused with tiger shrike, another migrant, and the resident long-tailed shrike. Unlike the long-tailed shrike which is more grey, the brown shrike is, well, more brown and prefers the open grassland, unlike the tiger which prefers more wooded and forested areas. 

the brown shrike is a winter visitor to SIngapore having come from Siberia and northern Asia. We were surprised to see it around our neighbourhood and it is probably transitting through our area, and fuelling up before it starts its long arduous journey  home. it was rather accommodating though. 

 

[Kitsafari]

Now on to birds outside our neighbourhood....

 

29/SG29: Asian Fairy Bluebird, Dairy Farm Nature Reserve

 

Found mainly in wooded areas or forests' edges, the male is a stunning black with glossy blue underparts. Unfortunately the few we saw were all females with all blue/turquoise body.

 

 

[Kitsafari]

30: Short-tailed babbler, Windsor Nature Park

 

 

a nondescript bird that likes to forage on the forest floors for grubs and insects. this is a near threatened species and not commonly seen. It is distributed in ThAiland down to the Malayan peninsular to Sumatra and Java. 

[Kitsafari]

31/SG31: Pin-striped tit-babbler, Venus Drive

 

 

This little brown job, which I am sure I have often mistaken for other birds, likes to hang around low-lying branches as it forages on the grounds for food. it is distributed in sub-continent India, southern China and southeast Asia. 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2019 by Kitsafari
removed a link not related to the topic

[Kitsafari]

32/SG32: Lineated barbet, Kent Ridge Park

 

the first EBC (of many, i'm sure) for this series - a very distant shot of a lineated barbet which was fraternising with a large flock  of red-whiskered bulbuls, daurian starlings and pink-necked green pigeons as they took breaks from a fruiting fig tree. this is one of three barbet species found in singapore. the lineated barbet is found in India, China and Southeast Asia, and introduced to Singapore.

 

Edited April 15, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

33/SG33: Coppersmith Barbet, Bidadari

 

This is the smallest of the three barbet species found in Singapore. Its name is derived from the sounds of its calls, like a coppersmith hammering a copper sheet. 

 

[Kitsafari]

34/SG34: Black Baza, Changi Business Park

 

The black bazas returned to the Changi Business Park as they prepared to reverse their winter migratory route towards home in northern Asia. A beautiful black raptor with a crest on the top of the head. One of their favourite annual stops is at a very quiet, undisturbed (except by birders and photographers) location by a canal behind a bus terminal in the business park. 

 

 

35/SG35: Jerdon's Baza, Changi Business Park

 

and when you see the black bazas, you often see a Jerdon's Baza with the flock too. Also a winter visitor, this baza also has a crest at the top of its head but is lighter in colour.

 

Edited April 15, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

36/SG36: Yellow Bittern, Singapore Botanic Gardens

 

This is the most common bittern with a yellowish plumage. the male has a black cap and no prominent brown streaks on the side like the females have. It is a winter visitor but many have stayed and bred in Singapore.

Edited April 15, 2019 by Kitsafari

[PeterHG]

More interesting and mainly unfamiliar ( at least to me) birds from another part of the world. You are showing us a great variety and the photography is excellent!