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Kitsafari

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166: Rusty-Breasted Cuckoo, Punggol Promenade, June  16

 

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an EBC above, but a slightly clearer pic below, with a parent just at the bottom of the photo.

 

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The rusty breasted cuckoo, the horsfield's bronze cuckoo and the little bronze cuckoo were all around the same area. we didn't have luck with the little bronze one. I had stepped out of the forest in search of a cuckoo but Herman stayed behind in the thick bushes with a handful other photographers when the rusty-breasted adult and a juvenile rustled into appearance. This is a resident breeder but not commonly seen. It looks like  a plaintive cuckoo but it has a orange breast while the plaintive  has a grey breast. found all over Southeast Asia. 

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Aha, turning into a serious bird photographers?! Lucky we as this will give us many great and rare birds from your corner of the globe! The Oriental Pied Hornbill is perfect shot, and that white Kingfisher a rarity and a celebrity already.

 

As me also you will have to work harder to participate on equal terms with more experienced EBC photographers ... your Cuckoo is only a bit soft but even me, with a proper book, am able to ID it :).

Edited by xelas
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michael-ibk

Fascinating Kingfisher, lovely pictures. Shouldn´t an albino have red/pink eyes? So I´m guessing leucistic (much more common than true albino birds).

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From my point of view I don't even see any EBCs in this excellent collection. (You need to try much harder:P)

A great collection including the repeats (nice to enjoy good birds twice over) and "yes" the young kingfisher is leucistic . The eyes have it as @michael-ibk rightly points out!. Albinism is total loss of pigmentation where the eyes appear pinky red too.

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Dave Williams

Excellent collection, and you have really made me think seriously at a long stopover stay in Singapore if I travel your way again.

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On 7/8/2018 at 6:59 PM, Dave Williams said:

Excellent collection, and you have really made me think seriously at a long stopover stay in Singapore if I travel your way again.

 

@Dave WilliamsSo you should. I can be the safari pal!

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167: Sunda Pgymy Woodpecker, Eastwood/Pasir Ris Park

 

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This is the smallest species of woodpecker in singapore, averaging only 12cm long. Its colours are a great camouflage, and the times when we noticed them was either their pecking sounds or when they hopped along the trees. This species is found mainly in Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. 

 

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168: Red-Backed Mannikin, Lorong Halus, June 23

 

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Still not perfecting the EBCs nor the clear shots. I'm just skating through the twilight zone. and what is an african bird doing in tropical Singapore? well, it's one of those escapee-released birds that contribute to the diversity but not to the preservation of native species, I suppose. This mannikin was busily eating and refusing to face us, and was too shy to come out into the open. instead, it hid right at the back i the thick bushes, while its cousins the waxbills and scaly-breasted munia held centrestage in the foreground. 

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169: Common Waxbills, Lorong Halus, June 23

 

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Flocks of waxbills were sighted at Lorong Halus, and we weren't going to lose the opportunity to see such pretty birds. the morning we went, it had poured. but during a long p pause, the freshness of the seeds drew the species out. There were a handful species of finches that were eating beak by beak - the common waxbills, the red rumped waxbills, the black tailed waxbills, the scaly breasted munias, the red backed mannikin and one more which I think was a bronze mannikin but I've asked for hep from the local birders for ID. 

The waxbill species are all introduced birds to Singapore. also known as the St Helena waxbill, the common waxbills are native to sub-Saharan Africa but has been introduced to many other countries. It is supposed to be the commonest waxbill in Africa, but I don't recall ever seeing them in all my safaris. I couldn't have not noticed such a pretty bird with the red mask. 

 

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170: Crimson-Rumped Waxbill, Lorong Halus, June 23

 

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Also called the rosy-rumped waxbill, this species is native in north-eastern Africa. It was first sighted in Singapore in 2011, and since then, it has proliferated to become the most widespread of the waxbills in Singapore. Found mainly in shrubs, bushes and edges of forests. 

 

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171: Black-rumped waxbill, Lorong Halus, June 23

 

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When we saw the black-rumped waxbills, they were in a group of its own rather than mixing with the other waxbills and the munias, although they've been found with the common waxbills in the past. Looks very much like the common waxbills except for the black rump and tail. 

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You have quite a collection of Waxbills over there! Of theseI've only ever seen the Common Waxbill in South Africa. They have also settled in Portugal and Spain, I think.

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More excellent photos and how extraordinary to find Waxbills and Munia/Mannikins in Singapore..

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172: Tanimbar Corella, Pasir Ris Park, April 28

 

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This is the smallest of the four cuckatoo species found in SIngapore at about 32cm long. there are no native cuckatoo species here so they were all introduced. But despite their Near Threatened ranking in the IUCN, the species seems to do alright on our island city. The Tanimba Corella is native to the Tanimba islands in Indonesia. In the last photo,  you will see a yellow-crested cuckatoo -  the two species seem to socialise together a lot. 

 

173: Yellow-crested cuckatoo, Pasir Ris Park, APril 28

 

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the Yellow-Crested Cuckatoo hails from  the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi, Sumba and Lesser Sundas. Birdlife International ranks it as critically endangered, no thanks to the caged bird trade and destruction of habitat. They are only slightly larger than the corella and are often seen together with them. we saw the flock for a couple of weeks at the park, but they seem to have flown off since. 

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174: Racket-tailed Drongo, Dairy Farm Nature Park, May 1

 

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We heard it before we saw it as we heard a series of sounds. But when it flew into sight, it stationed itself far up a tree, with its back towards us. but the streamers that swayed behind it as it flew across the trees were quite a sight. This is a resident breeder which is known to mimic a variety of calls. The species is found in  the HImalayas down through India to INdonesia. 

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175: Bronze Mannikin, Lorong Halus, June 23

 

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Bronze mannikins look very much like Javan munias, but i leaned towards the mannikin in this case because of the dotted lines/patterns that appear just under the adult's wings. the juvenile was sticking very closely to the parent. Bronze mannikins are not native to Singapore but to Africa. 

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The birds are most certainly Mannikins but are they not Red-backed (Spermestes nigriceps)  and not Bronze?

Nice Cockatoos.

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@Galana I had asked for ID help from local birders but no one would venture a guess. what makes you think it is a red-backed rather than a bronze mannikin please? 

 

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I agree with @Galana here (which is usually a safe thing to do ;)). The bird has a pale bill instead of a two-toned bill and the back of the head looks rather black instead of bronze. Also I think some red is visible on the back . I don’t know, of course, what the status of this mannikin would be in Singapore. You sure seem to have a lot of introduced species there. I really enjoy your contibutions from an unfamiliar part of the world ( for me at least)

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5 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

what makes you think it is a red-backed rather than a bronze mannikin please? 

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One can clearly see the "red back" in your photo and the black face and throat is more pronounced than Bronze.

Here is the relevant page:-

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4 is Bronze and 6 Red-backed (which just to confuse you used to be regarded as a race of B&W 5.)

 

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@Galana thanks for the answer.  After you queried, i took a harder look at the mannikins. I had thought it was a bronze mannikin given as the back had looked more dark brown-bronze than the earlier photos I had of the red-backed mannikin.  i had a closer look. the bronze mannikin's bib goes up, creating a  bit of curve, while this bird's bib covers much of its breast. on the closer look too, i can see a strip of brown which can almost pass as darkish brown-red, so I have to concede that this could very well be a red-backed mannikin.  

 

in that case, I'll deduct this count from the next entry. 

as always, your counsel is much appreciated.

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38 minutes ago, Kitsafari said:

as always, your counsel is much appreciated.

As always, happy to help.

Your "bit of a curve" for the bib is a further good field mark. I could not find the right words for that when typing. I suppose 'half collar' would be correct?

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That will do! Please excuse my amateurish language! I didn't know what other word to use. ?

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backtracking on the count to no

175: Stork-billed kingfisher, Pasir Ris Park, June 2

 

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This kingfisher is known to photographers as it often frequents a part of a river close to a human bridge. the stork-billed kingfisher is found from the Indian sub-continent, through Indochina and down to Indonesia. it is an uncommon species but is resident in SIngapore.

 

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