Male Blue-winged Leafbird

The Blue-winged Leafbird (Chloropsis cochinchinensis) is a species of leafbird found in forest and second growth from far north-eastern India and throughout Southeast Asia as far east as Borneo and as far south as Java. It commonly includes Jerdon's Leafbird (C. jerdoni) from the Indian Subcontinent, and the Bornean Leafbird (C. kinabaluensis) from northern Borneo as subspecies, but differs from both in measurements and morphology, with Jerdon's lacking any blue to the flight feathers, and Bornean having a distinctive male-like female plumage. The distribution of the Blue-winged and the Bornean Leafbird are known to approach each other, but there is no evidence of intergradation.

The male is green-bodied with a yellow-tinged head, black face and throat. It has a blue moustachial line. The female differs in that it has a greener head and blue throat, and young birds are like the female but without the blue throat patch.It is common to fairly common throughout most of its range, and therefore considered to be of least concern byBirdLife International.

The superficially similar Golden-fronted Leafbird lacks blue in the flight feathers and tail, and has a golden forehead. As in other leafbirds, the call of the Blue-winged Leafbird consists of a rich mixture of imitations of the calls of various other species of birds.

  

References

• BirdLife International (2006). Chloropsis cochinchinensis. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006.www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
• Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
• Wells, D. R. (2005). Chloropsis cochinchinensis (Blue-winged Leafbird). P. 264 in: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, & D. A. Christie. eds. (2005). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

External links

• Blue-winged Leafbird videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection

•  Media related to Chloropsis cochinchinensis at Wikimedia Common

                                                                                                                                      Location - Bukit Tinggi Pahang

Barbet

Barbets are small, stocky-bodied birds with rather large heads which gives the appearance of a stubby neck.  The majority of barbets are multicolored in striking plumage.  The Asian and American species are predominantly green with red, blue and yellow markings, usually around the head.  African barbets are mainly yellow, black or red and are heavily spotted or streaked.  Their bills are stout and have bristles or tufts of feathers that lay forward over the nares, gape and chin region of the face.  They possess zygodactylous toes (two forward and two backward) and with the exception of three species are arboreal.

Diet

Fruits, berries, buds, flowers, nectar, insects; larger species such as the lineated barbet have been known to consume tree frogs, lizards and even other smaller birds.  Certain genera may be more frugivorous or insectivorous. 

Description:  24-26cm, 110-181g.  Sexes alike but females mandible appears paler, bluish dusky.  Immature birds have overall duller plumage.

Habitat:
Found in lowland foothills, rare in evergreen forests and swamp forests but also found in cocoa plantations and tall second growth forests. 
                                
                                                                                Location - Bukit Tinggi Pahang 

White - Brested Waterhen (Ayam2/ruak2)

The White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) is a waterbird of the rail and crake family Rallidae that is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia. They are dark slaty birds with a clean white face, breast and belly. They are somewhat bolder than most other rails and are often seen stepping slowly with their tail cocked upright in open marshes or even drains near busy roads. They are largely crepuscular in activity and during the breeding season after the first rains make loud and repetitive croaky calls.

Behaviour and ecology

These birds probe with their bill in mud or shallow water, also picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects, small fish, aquatic invertebrates and seedssuch as those of Pithecolobium dulce.^[6] They may sometimes feed in deeper water in the manner of a moorhen.^[7][8] They forage on the ground but clamber in low bushes and roost in low trees.

The nesting season is mainly June to October. They nest in a dry location on the ground in marsh vegetation, laying 6-7 eggs. The eggs hatch in about 19 days.^[9]

Many rails are very secretive, but White-breasted Waterhens are often seen out in the open. They can be noisy especially at dawn and dusk, with loud croaky calls.

Description

Adult White-breasted Waterhens have mainly dark grey upperparts and flanks, and a white face, neck and breast. The lower belly and undertail are cinnamon coloured. The body is flattened laterally to allow easier passage through the reeds or undergrowth. They have long toes, a short tail and a yellow bill and legs. Sexes are similar, but immature birds are much duller versions of the adults. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails.

Several subspecies are named for the populations that are widely distributed. The nominate subspecies is described from Sri Lanka but is often widened to include chinensis of mainland India and adjoining regions in Asia, west to Arabia and east nearly to Japan. The remaining subspecies are those from islands and include insularis of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, midnicobaricus of the central Nicobars, leucocephala of Car Nicobar, maldivus of the Maldives,javanicus of Java and leucomelanus of Sulawesi and the Lesser Sundas.


                                                                                                                                 Location - Paya Indah Wetland

Brown Barbet (Caloramphus fuliginosus)

The Brown Barbet (Caloramphus fuliginosus) is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family.

 It is monotypic within the genus Caloramphus. It is found inBrunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand.

References

• BirdLife International 2004. Caloramphus fuliginosus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Long-tailed sibia (Heterophasia picaoides) | Sibia Ekor Panjang

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                                                                                   March 11

Ashy Bulbul

The Ashy Bulbul (Hemixos flavala) is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family.

It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitatsare subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

References

• BirdLife International 2004. Hemixos flavala. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 24 July 2007.

Little Bronze Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx minutillus)

The Little Bronze Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx minutillus) is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is found in Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. This is the world's smallest cuckoo, at 17 grams and 15 cm (6 in).

The subspecies rufomerus is sometimes given specific status as the Green-cheeked Bronze Cuckoo, Chrysococcyx rufomerus.

References

• BirdLife International 2004. Chrysococcyx minutillus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Black-naped Oriole (Dendang Selayang)

he Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis) is a bird of the oriole family and is found in many parts of Asia.

There are several distinctive populations within wide distribution range of the species and in the past the Slender-billed Oriole (Oriolus tenuirostris) was included as a subspecies.

The Black-naped Oriole is medium sized and overall golden with a strong pinkish bill and a broad black mask and nape.

Unlike the Golden Oriolewhich only has a short and narrow eye-stripe, the Black-naped Oriole has the stripe broadening and joining at the back of the neck.

The adult male has the central tail feathers tipped yellow and the lateral ones are more broadly yellow. The female has the mantle colour more greenish or olive. The juvenile has a streaked underside. 

  Males and females are very similar although the wing lining of the female is more greenish. The bill is pink and is stouter than in the Golden Oriole.

The nestling has dull greenish with brown streaks. The head and nape are more yellowish and the undertail coverts are yellow. Several variations exist in the populations that have been separated as subspecies.^[2]

The Black-naped Oriole is found in forests, gardens and plantations. It feeds on berries and insects in the canopy. Subspecies diffusus breeds in eastern Siberia, Ussuriland, northeastern China, Korea and northern Vietnam and winters in Thailand, Burma and parts of India.^[3] T. C. Jerdon described a bird from the Malabar region that he identified as Oriolus indicus^[8] and this is now considered to be Oriolus chinensis diffusus.^[9] Oriolus chinensis invisus is found in Southern Annam. The nominate population is from the Philippines. Several island populations have been described including suluensis (Sulu Island), melanisticus (Talaut Islands),formosus (Sangihe), frontalis (Sula Islands), sangirensis (Sangi Archipelago), saani (Moluccas), mundus (Simalur Island), sipora (Sipora Island), richmondi(Siberut and Pagi), insularis (Kangean), broderipii (Lombok, Sumba, Sumbawa, Flores, and Alor Islands), lampochryseus (Masalembo and Keramian Islands),oscillans (Tukang Besi Islands), boneratensis (Islands of Bonerate, Djampea and Kalao), maculatus (Singapore Island, Sumatra, Billiton, Banka, Nias, Java. Bali and Borneo), yamamurae (central and southern Philippines^[10] and sometimes treated as identical to the nominate population), celebensis (northern Celebes) and macassariensis (southern Celebes).^[11] The subspecies are very closely related and the group forms a clade in which the Eurasian Oriole and Indian Golden Oriole are also nested.^[12][13]

Calls of O. c. diffusus in winter range

In winter populations breeding in eastern Asia winter in the tropical areas of Southeast Asia.^[14] Subspeciesdiffusus is an uncommon migrant in many parts of South India and are most regularly seen in the Western Ghats.^[5] In Singapore they are believed to have established as breeders only in the 1920s and are today common even within gardens in the city. In the 1880s they were considered rare.^[15]

Behaviour and ecology

Males differ geographically in extent of black and yellow on head, wing and tail

Black-naped Orioles have been recorded to feed on a range of berries including Trema orientalis, Ficus and others apart from insects. It has been suggested that they may have aided in the dispersal of Ficus species into the island of Krakatoa where they were also among the early pioneer species.^[16] In India it has been noted to take nectar from large flowers such as those of Salmalia and Erythrina.^[3] They can sometimes be nest predators on smaller birds.^[17] The breeding season is April to June (January-March in the Nicobars^[18]) and the nest is a deep cup in a fork of a tree.^[5] The eggs, two to three, are salmon pin with reddish spots and darker blotches^[2][19] The nests are often built in the vicinity of the nest of a Black Drongo. Two or three nests may be built by the female and one is finally chosen for laying eggs.^[18] Males may sometimes sit beside the unused nests. Incubation is by the female alone and the eggs hatch after 14 to 16 days and the chicks fledge after another two weeks. Females stay closer to the nest, taking part in nest sanitation by removal of fecal sacs, driving away predators and feeding the young. The males take a more active role in feeding and guarding. Eurasian Tree Sparrows and Black Bulbuls may sometimes used abandoned nests. Nest predators include crows, treepies and hawks.^[20] In many parts of Southeast Asia, they are trapped and sold in the bird trade.^[21]