Wednesday 30 November 2016
Tuesday 29 November 2016
Monday 28 November 2016
28-11-2016 JURONG, SINGAPORE - BLACK WINGED LOVEBIRD (Agapornis taranta)
The black-winged lovebird (Agapornis taranta) also known as Abyssinian lovebird is a mainly green bird of the parrot family. At about 16.5 cm (6.5 inches) long, it is the largest of the lovebird genus, a group of small parrots. The adult male is easily identified by its red forehead, and the adult female by its all-green head. They are native to Eritrea and Ethiopia, and they are uncommon as pets.
The black-winged lovebird, with a length of about 16[3]–16.5[2] cm (6.25–6.5 inches), is the largest of all the lovebirds. It is sexually dimorphic, as are the red-headed lovebird and grey-headed lovebird of the lovebird genus. The dimorphism becomes apparent in juvenile birds after their first molt at about eight or nine months of age. Both the male and female black-winged lovebird are mostly green, and only the adult male black-winged lovebird has a red forehead and a ring of red feathers around its eyes.
The tail is black tipped and feathers below the tail show a yellowish colour. The rump and feathers above the tail are light green. In the male feathers under the wing are typically black, and in the female the feathers under the wing are typically greenish or brownish black. Both sexes have a red beak and gray feet.
The natural habitat for a black-winged lovebird is typically from southern Eritrea to southwestern Ethiopia and they normally live in either high plains or mountainous regions.
28-11-2026 JURONG, SINGAPORE - GREEN CHEEKED PARAKEET (Pyrrhura molinae)
The green-cheeked parakeet (Pyrrhura molinae), known as the green-cheeked conure in aviculture, is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay.
The populations of green-cheeked parakeet breeding in higher elevations move to lower ones in winter.
The green-cheeked parakeet has a varied diet that, in the wild, consists of fruits, seeds, flowers and, to a lesser extent, nectar and leaves.
The green-cheeked parakeet's breeding season in Argentina includes February, but its season elsewhere has not been defined. It nests in tree cavities. In captivity the clutch size is four to six eggs, the incubation period is 22 to 25 days, both sexes incubate the clutch, and fledging occurs about seven weeks after hatch.
The green-cheeked parakeet's flight calls "comprise rather high-pitched notes with a grating quality and usually given in fast series, e.g. "krree krree krree", but also single "kuree" notes." From a perch it "utters high-pitched, more melodious notes, such as a bisyllabic "rrekeet" or "keew"." However, perched birds are often silent. Flocks in flight "call frequently and simultaneously, producing a noisy, harsh and piercing chattering."
28-11-2016 JURONG, SINGAPORE - WHITE CHEEKED TURACO (Menelikornis leucotis)
The white-cheeked turaco (Menelikornis leucotis) is a species of bird in the family Musophagidae. It is found in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. A mid-sized species, it measures about 43 cm (17 in) in length, including a tail of 19 cm (7.5 in), and weighs about 200–315 g (7.1–11.1 oz). This species is the most commonly raised turaco in captive conditions.
The white-cheeked turaco is native to Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea, where it is found in Podocarpus and juniper forests in the highland regions.
There are two subspecies, the nominate subspecies M. l. leucotis found in the Podocarpus forests of Eritrea, Ethiopia and southeastern South Sudan and M. l. donaldsoni found in south-central Ethiopia south of the Rift Valley and in the extreme west of Somalia. The latter is quite distinct in plumage colour - the eastern population is separated from the larger population by the escarpment.
The white-crested turaco has been shown to hybridise with the sympatric Ruspoli's turaco (Menelikornis ruspolii) that contributed more to concerns about Ruspoli's turaco that is considered endangered.
28-11-2016 JURONG, SINGAPORE - CALIFORNIA QUAIL (Callipepla californica)
The California quail (Callipepla californica), also known as the California valley quail or Valley quail, is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. These birds have a curving crest or plume, made of six feathers, that droops forward: black in males and brown in females; the flanks are brown with white streaks. Males have a dark brown cap and a black face with a brown back, a grey-blue chest and a light brown belly. Females and immature birds are mainly grey-brown with a light-colored belly. Their closest relative is Gambel's quail, which has a more southerly distribution and a longer crest at 2.5 in (6.4 cm), a brighter head and lacks the scaly appearance of the California quail. The two species separated about 1–2 million years ago, during the Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene. It was selected as the state bird of California in 1931.
7-7-2019 LAS BOCAS, COLUMBIA - TOUCAN BARBET (Semnornis ramphastinus)
The toucan barbet is native to humid montane forests, where it occupies all levels of the canopy and is found in both primary and secondary forests, as well as forest edges. It is social, living in small family groups which work together to defend their territories and raise the chicks communally. It feeds on fruit and a range of animal prey, with insects being an important part of the diet of chicks. It sometimes joins mixed-species feeding flocks. Chicks are raised in cavities dug into large, usually dead trees.
Young toucan barbets are preyed upon by plate-billed mountain toucans. The species is considered to be near threatened, mainly due to trapping for the cage-bird trade. It has also declined due to habitat loss, particularly the loss of large trees in which to breed, although the species is adaptable if left unmolested.
28-11-2016 JURONG, SINGAPORE - CARNABY'S BLACK COCKATOO (Zanda latirostris)
Carnaby's black cockatoo (Zanda latirostris), also known as the short-billed black cockatoo, is a large black cockatoo endemic to southwest Australia. It was described in 1948 by naturalist Ivan Carnaby. Measuring 53–58 cm (21–23 in) in length, it has a short crest on the top of its head. Its plumage is mostly greyish black, and it has prominent white cheek patches and a white tail band. The body feathers are edged with white giving a scalloped appearance. Adult males have a dark grey beak and pink eye-rings. Adult females have a bone-coloured beak, grey eye-rings and ear patches that are paler than those of the males.
This cockatoo usually lays a clutch of one to two eggs. It generally takes 28 to 29 days for the female to incubate the eggs, and the young fledge ten to eleven weeks after hatching. The young will stay with the family until the next breeding season, and sometimes even longer. The family leaves the nesting site after the young fledge until the following year. Carnaby's black cockatoo forms flocks when not breeding, with birds in drier habitats usually being more migratory than those in wetter ones. It flies with deep and slow wingbeats, generally high above trees. Seeds of plants of the families Proteaceae and, to a lesser extent, Myrtaceae form a large part of its diet.
Carnaby's black cockatoo nests in hollows situated high in trees with fairly large diameters, generally Eucalyptus. With much of its habitat lost to land clearing and development and threatened by further habitat destruction, Carnaby's black cockatoo is listed as an endangered species by the Federal and Western Australian governments. It is also classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Like most parrots, it is protected by CITES, an international agreement that makes trade, export, and import of listed wild-caught species illegal.
9-11-2017 BRENTWOOD, ESSEX - MARSH TIT (Poecile palustris)
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The marsh tit (Poecile palustris) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae and genus Poecile, closely related to the willow tit, Père David's and Songar tits. It is a small bird, around 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighing 12 g (0.42 oz), with a black crown and nape, pale cheeks, brown back and greyish-brown wings and tail. Between 8 and 11 subspecies are recognised. Its close resemblance to the willow tit can cause identification problems, especially in the United Kingdom where the local subspecies of the two are very similar: they were not recognised as separate species until 1897.
Globally, the marsh tit is classified as Least Concern, although there is evidence of a decline in numbers (in the UK, numbers have dropped by more than 50% since the 1970s, for example). It can be found throughout temperate Europe and northern Asia and, despite its name, it occurs in a range of habitats including dry woodland. The marsh tit is omnivorous; its food includes caterpillars, spiders and seeds. It nests in tree holes, choosing existing hollows to enlarge, rather than excavating its own. A clutch of 5–9 eggs is laid.
25-11-2016 INLE LAKE, MYANMAR - PHEASANT TAILED JACANA (Hydrophasianus chirurgus)
This jacana breeds on floating vegetation during the rainy season. In southern India, it breeds in the monsoon season, June–September. It is polyandrous; one female may lay up to ten clutches in a single season that are raised by different males. Female court males with flight displays around the males and with calling. The female builds a nest on floating vegetation made of leaves and stalks of plants with a depression in the centre. A single clutch consists of four glossy black-marked dark-olive-brown eggs (occasionally an egg in a clutch may be an odd pale sea-green in colour which are laid in the mornings at 24 hour intervals. When an egg is removed at the one- or two-egg stage, the nest is torn down and a new one built, whereas a removal at the three-egg stage does not result in replacement. Once the clutch of four is laid, the male begins incubation and the female leaves to court a different male. In a study in Thailand it was found that it took a female 17 to 21 days to lay the next clutch. A study in China found females taking 9–12 days and laying nearly 7 to 10 clutches in a season.[18] Males may move or drag eggs around by holding them between the bill and breast or between the wings and body. They may also push and float the eggs over water and onto nearby vegetation platforms when disturbed. Nests may be moved to distances of about 15 metres. Males near the nest may perform broken-wing and rodent-run displays to distract predators. The eggs are incubated for 26 to 28 days. During the first few days of incubation, the female defends the nest, chasing other waterbirds that may approach too close by flying at them. In close territorial combat they lock bills and strike simultaneously with both wings. Males actively forage in the morning and afternoon and tend to sit at the nest during the hottest part of the day. The downy nidifugous chicks freeze when threatened or when the male indicates alarm and may lie partly submerged with just the bill out of water.
Eggs may be preyed on by pond herons, while chicks may bet taken by birds of prey such as black-winged kites. The trematode parasite Renicola philippinensis was described from the kidney of a pheasant-tailed jacana in the New York Zoological Garden while Cycloceolum brasilianum was recorded in India. The bird louse species Rallicola sulcatus has been described from this species; it looks very similar to Rallicola indicus from the bronze-winged jacana. Another bird louse known from the species is Pseudomenopon pilosum.
28-11-2016 JURONG, SINGAPORE - CRESTED JAY (Platylophus galericulatus)
The crested jayshrike or crested shrikejay (Platylophus galericulatus), formerly known as the crested jay (despite not being a true jay) is a species of bird found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. It is the only member of the genus Platylophus and the family Platylophidae.
Although traditionally placed in the family Corvidae, its taxonomy has been under contention since the 2000s, as phylogenetic analyses indicate that it is not a true corvid, but rather a basal member of the Corvoidea radiation. Some authorities have suggested that it may belong to the helmetshrikes. In 2019, eBird and the Clements Checklist renamed the species the crested shrikejay and placed it in its own family, the Platylophidae, which was undescribed at the time. In 2021, the family Platylophidae was officially described, and in 2022 the International Ornithological Congress reclassified the species into Platylophidae. However, the family name Lophocittidae, originally described as Lophocitteae in 1855 by Johann Jakob Kaup, may have referred to the crested shrikejay, and if so would take precedence over Platylophidae.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest of the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. It is threatened by habitat loss.
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