The Flame Bowerbird (Sericulus aureus)

The flame bowerbird is a rainforest bird distributed in and endemic to rainforests of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the most brilliantly colored bowerbirds. This bird is the first bowerbird described by naturalists, due to male's exquisitely colored plumage. The Flame Bowerbirds named after the elaborate structures, or bowers, built and decorated with colorful objects by the males, bowerbirds have one of the most exclusive courtship rituals in the animal kingdom.

However, it was earlier thought to be a bird of paradise. Indeed, the male flame bowerbird also has a courtship display along with his bower, and he twists his tails and his wings to the side, and then shakes his head rapidly. The Flame Bowerbird is a medium sized bird, measure upto 25 cm long, with flame orange and golden yellow plumage with elongated neck plumes and yellow-tipped black tail. It builds an "avenue-type" bower with two side walls of sticks.

However, the female bird is an olive brown bird with yellow or golden below. The courtship behavior of the flame bowerbird was filmed by Japanese photographer Tadashi Shimada in Dancers on Fire, a documentary that aired on the Smithsonian Channel. Although the male appeared to court females twice, no successful mating was filmed as the female moved away when the male mounted. However, Shimada filmed other strange behavior, such as a male courting a juvenile male and numerous juvenile males as well as an adult male appearing to share one bower, only to be destroyed by another juvenile male. The bird habitats is lowland and montane rainforest and adjacent second growth, occurs from lowlands up to 1400m, aureus mainly at 850 - 1400m.

The Flame Bowrbirds diet is little known certainly includes fruits and insects. Forages singly or in small groups, also with other fruit-eating species like Vogelkop Bowerbird. The display season starts August to November, when male builds and attends a bower to attract females. They build a nest alone and also breed alone.The bower is a so-called avenue bower built with sticks. It's about 23cm long, 16cm wide and 19cm high. It's decorated with purple, blue and brown fruits, flowers, snail-shells and leaves. The male performs a dance to attract the female to the bower.

There’re two different subspecies, sometimes considered full species: Sericulus aureus ardens (flame bowerbird), from south-western New Guinea, with orange-faced male -Sericulus aureus aureus (masked bowerbird), the nominate form of north-western New Guinea, with black-faced and black-throated male. The flame bowerbird is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

White-Crested Laughingthrush

The eye-catching White crested Laughingthrush ((Garrulax leucolophus) is a member of the Leiothrichidae family. This bird is mostly found in forest and scrub from the Himalayan foothills to Indochina, broadleaf evergreen forest and mixed deciduous forest, disturbed, secondary and regenerating forest. However, the White-crested Laughingthrush is not indigenous to Singapore. A charismatic “cute’-looking bird” usually moving in flocks ranging from pairs to noisy gangs of eight, has mostly chestnut-brown upperparts, a white head and breast with a protuberant white crest that sometimes appears a dirty grey due to the accumulation of dust, as well as a broad black stripe running from the lores across the eye to the ear coverts.

The bird is formerly included the Sumatran laughingthrush as a subspecies, but nothing like that species the plumage of the white-crested laughingthrush is rufescent-brown and white, and the black mask is relatively broad. In Thailand it is an introduced as a cage bird and somehow escaped and from a sustainable population. Moreover, it has become well established since 1995, and its population has increased, can be commonly encountered in many locations. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion, hence not under threat and least concern. However, the population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction and fragmentation.

Somewhere between March to August White-crested Laughing Thrushes form close bonds during the breeding season. The bird habitually builds a wide, shallow nest at least six feet off the ground, normally constructed of bamboo leaves. The birds lays 3 to 5 eggs incubate for a short period of 15 days, letting White-crested Laughing Thrushes to generally produce at least two clutches of young each year. In order to be successful, the parents enlist support. The White-crested Laughing Thrushes rely on older offspring those hatched earlier in the season to support feed and defend the youngest members of the family.

White-crested Laughing Thrushes are noisy, social birds who sporadically burst into loud calls that sound just like laughter. White-crested Laughing Thrushes are an incredibly social species native to the teak and bamboo-covered foothills of the Himalayan Moutains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Silver-eared Mesia (Leiothrix argentauris)

The Silver-eared Mesia (Leiothrix argentauris) was once placed in the large Old World babbler family Timaliidae. However this family has been split with this species being placed with the laughingthrushes in the new family Leiothrichidae. There’re 7 described subspecies, with considerable variation in plumage between them. Hence, more research is required to establish if this represents a single species or not. Though, this species is sometimes placed in its own genus Mesia, or in the genus Leiothrix with the red-billed leiothrix. The bird is usually resident although it has been reported as a winter migrant to Nameri National Park in Assam, India, which implies that the species may be an altitudinal migrant.

The species has been introduced to Hong Kong from captive stock derived from caged birds. The bird’s upper part has a multicolor, but dull olive back wings in red and Silver. There is the black head and large silver patch on the ear. The under part is yellow. Moreover, throat and the patch behind the head is orange yellow followed by a grey back ending in bright orange red before the tail. The prominent colors are orange-yellow flight feathers with a red base. The silver-eared Mesia is a seasonal breeder, lasting from Nov to Aug. Both male and female are participate in building the nest, takes about 4 days to build and is placed near ground level or up to 2m up in a bush. The two to five eggs normally are white with light but rich madder-brown spots. Both parents incubate the eggs, with the female incubating the eggs during the night. In fact the eggs are incubated for 13 to 14 days and both male and female feed the chicks, which fledge after 12 days, and parental care lasts for a further 22 days after fledging.

The eye-catching Silver-eared Mesia is a local resident in the foothills of the Himalayas. The birds like cool climate, but it is also a resident of the sub-montane forest of Peninsula Malaysia. Nevertheless the Silver-eared Mesia is the icon for the Frasers Hills. Like the residents in all other countries of Western China, Indochina and Sumatra. The beautiful multicolor Mesia live in bushes of forest edge. The Mesia food is insect but it does wait for definite berries of the under growth. Moreover, the bird like to travels in group together with bird waves or just by themselves.

Their presence in the area is alerted by the loud call of the male otherwise most times, soft murmuring whispers as long as they are around. In most of the hill stations in Malaysia, you need not search or wait long; the bird will make its appearance. Therefore, in a certain season, the birds are more readily available in large numbers. However, in other times, frequency of meeting up is further apart and also less birds seen. So far Silver-eared Mesia in a large numbers in the wild and plenty of it, let's enjoy watching the birds in freedom. In Malaysia, you need not search or wait long; the bird will make its appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Crested Kingfisher (Megaceryle lugubris) Male

The Crested Kingfisher is (Megaceryle Lugubris, Other common names: Himalayan Pied Kingfisher) a very large kingfisher that is mostly native to Southern Asia and Japan.  The Crested Kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. This bird is mainly found in Mountain Rivers and larger rivers in the foothills of mountains. The bird is forms a species complex with the other three Megaceryle species. It is resident in the Himalayas and mountain foothills of northern India, Bangladesh, northern Indochina, Southeast Asia, Japan and Russia. This eye-catching kingfisher is easily recognized from its shaggy crest when at rest. The upper body is barred black and white and has a white collar. The distinctive large kingfisher has long crest feathers and average size is 41-43, 230-280 g.

The large black and white kingfisher with evenly barred wings and tail, and lacks a supercilium and has a spotted breast, which is sometimes mixed with rufous. This kingfisher has loud “ket ket” in flight, also loud “ping”, deep croaks between paired birds, and raucous grating. The kingfisher likes to eat fish, and crayfish, and perches on an overhanging branch, partly submerged log or rock, occasionally bobbing head. A notable decline has been observed in China, due to habitat destruction. Moreover, it is not globally threatened. Although widespread and common in some areas, but numbers have declined sharply during 20th century in Hokkaido, and also in Hong Kong. Whether traveling by wing or by wheel, this attractive kingfisher is pleased to perch anywhere in your home. Therefore, lifelike markings are meticulously painted with latex enamel on poplar wood that has been carved with a band saw. Each is unique and will vary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Schalow's turaco (Tauraco schalowi)

The Schalow's turaco (Tauraco schalowi) is a frugivorous bird in the Musophagidae family. The bird is named after Herman Schalow, actually a mature birds have, on average, the longest crests of any turaco species. The attractive colors that pattern the plumage of Schalow’s turaco are derived from two unique copper pigments within its feathers, unidentified in any other bird family. This bird's common name and Latin binomial commemorate the German banker and amateur ornithologist Hermann Schalow. The Schalow’s turaco is found in the forested uplands and wooded inland plateaus of south central Africa. The bird is replaced in the eastern lowlands by Livingstone's turaco, which is similar in appearance and behavior. Like other turacos, it is a medium-sized bird, with short, rounded wings, a long tail, and a stout, curved bill.

An extremely prominent, white-tipped crest adorns the head, while a ring of bare red skin surrounds the eye, delicately bordered with fine, black and white stripes. The upperparts are largely green, but noticeably darker over the mantle and wings. Moreover the bird size is 41-44 cm, an average weight of 208 – 267 g. In spite of being poor fliers, the forest turacos seldom descend to the ground. Instead, these shy but gregarious birds utilize their extraordinary climbing skills to navigate the tree canopy, skipping nimbly from branch to branch. When unassailable gaps do eventually necessitate flight, they take to the air with a few earnest flaps to the next tree, before clambering back up into the leafy crown.

It is mainly distributed in Zambia, central Angola, the southern DRC, and the uplands of southern Kenya, northern and western Tanzania and western Malawi. The bird occurs very locally in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe, where it frequents riparian habitats of the Zambezi and Cuando Rivers.  Moreover during flight its feathers are crimson, and the tail is deep, bluish black to violet. In common with all turacos, the feet have a distinct joint that lets the outer toe to move either forward or backward, an attribute that enables this bird to move dextrously through vegetation. Schalow’s turaco was formerly believed to be a subspecies of Tauraco persa, along with T. livingstonii and T. corythaix.

Furthermore, just like other turacos species, it feed mainly on fruit, though the young are perhaps fed a protein rich diet of invertebrates. Nevertheless turacos generally forage in groups; breeding is a solitary affair, with monogamous pairs fiercely defending their territories. The bird courtship includes much calling, chasing and general exhibition, with spreading their wings to display the striking crimson patches. The bird nest is mostly flimsy is a shallow platform of loose twigs, positioned 3-10 metres above the ground in thick foliage. Moreover, a clutch size of two is typical, and the downy chicks hatch after an incubation period of 20 to 22 days, devotedly taken care by both sexes. The precocious chicks do not linger long in the nest, and within 2 to 3 weeks, are clambering through the branches of the nest tree, a full week or two before they learn to fly.