This is a video of a pair of Golden-crowned Babblers, Stachyris dennistouni, just one of the many birds that can be found in Camp Sawa, the new site in the Sierra Madre Mountains, Northern Luzon, Philippines.

These Golden-crowned Babblers belong to the Timaliidae family, a loose collection of Old World birds, and as one birder has put it: “a dust-bin” for birds who are poorly-known in terms of their genetic lineage. But advances in avian systematics and taxonomy are now placing our Philippine Stachyris babblers (like this stunning Flame-templed Babbler) in the white-eye family, Zosteropidae. The Philippines has around 10 Stachyris babblers (again, depending on the taxonomy) such as this Luzon Striped-Babbler and this Rusty-crowned Babbler , so if the current study holds true, we will lose 10 of our babblers but will have gained 10 new white-eyes!

Golden-crowned Babbler, Stachyris dennistouni
Camp Sawa, Penablanca Protected Landscape, Cagayan Valley, Luzon, Philippines

Lowland White-eyes are common Luzon endemics (with a small population in the Lanyu Islands of Taiwan) that are found in forest, forest edge, even in gardens in cities. They move in noisy groups and sometimes in mixed flocks with Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker, Pied Triller, Golden-bellied Flyeater and Olive-backed Sunibird. We have observed at least two pairs of nesting white-eyes in a single tree, with one pair still sitting on the nest (first part of the video) and the other pair with two chicks on the nest. The cup-shaped nest can be found around 3 meters from the ground on a broad-leafed tree beside a small stream. The nest is made of small, dried twigs tightly woven around a small branch of the tree. The parents will first perch on a branch half a meter below the nest and then check out if there are potential threats and then will fly in to the nest and would take turns in delivering small berries to the chicks and would pick up and clean up the chicks’ fecal sacs from time to time.

Hopefully, in a few more days, the chicks would have fledged (and 3-4 new eggs hatched?) and we will have atleast two more white-eyes in La Mesa EcoPark.

Lowland White-eye, Zosterops meyeni
La Mesa Ecopark, Quezon City,Metro Manila, Luzon, Philippines

This one here is a Palawan Flowerpecker carrying a small berry. This one ranges in Palawan only. It is one of the more common flowerpeckers and sometimes it can be seen in the gardens in the capital city of Puerto Princesa.

This is a high elevation Mindanao endemic – Olive-capped Flowerpecker and can be found only in forests above 900 meters. The most reliable site for this flowerpecker is in Mt. Kitanglad Mountain Range, home of the mighty Philippine Eagle.

Then this is probably the most common endemic flowerpecker – Red-keeled Flowerpecker. It ranges all over the country except Palawan and is believed by field biologists to bully the ultra-rare Cebu Flowerpecker in Cebu.

This is a Buzzing Flowerpecker, a fairly drab-looking frugivore that gives a continuous high-pitched buzzing call. It ranges Luzon, Mindanao, Samar and Leyte and Bohol.
This picture is from Mindanao …

while this video is from Mt. Polis in Luzon. Notice the difference.

Then, there is this Pygmy Flowerpecker, the smallest flowerpecker in the Philippines. It is characterized by its very thin bill, narrow white throat and can be found all throughout the Philippines except in the island of Panay.

There are a few more endemic flowerpeckers like this Flame-crowned Flowerpecker (left) and this Bicolored Flowerpecker (right). The Flame-crowned Flowerpecker ranges in the high elevation mountains of Luzon and Mindanao. The one on the left was taken in Mt. Polis, Luzon while the Bicolored Flowerpecker is a lowland flowerpecker distinguished from the Red-keeled by its very stout bill.

Other endemic flowerpeckers include the Striped Flowerpecker – similar to a Grey-cheeked Flycatcher but this one wags its tail sideways – found in most islands through the Philippines; the uncommon lowland fruigivore Olive-backed Flowerpecker – found in Luzon, Mindanao, Samar and Leyte; the ultra rare Cebu Flowerpecker – found only in the remaining forests of Cebu, a small island in Central Philippines; the highly localized Whiskered Flowerpecker found only in the highlands of Mindanao; Scarlet-collared Flowerpecker from Mindoro and Visayan Flowerpecker, a split from Red-keeled Flowerpecker, found in Negros.

There are two non-endemic flowerpeckers: this gorgeous Orange-bellied Flowerpecker ranging from most Philippine islands

And this Fire-breasted Flowerpecker from high elevation mountains of Luzon and Mindanao.

So next time you go out birding, make sure you pay attention to these small flowerpeckers, they maybe your next tick!

Next post, more videos from this excellent new site in Northern Luzon: Camp Sawa.

Origin of FURTIVE
French or Latin; French furtif, from Latin furtivus, from furtum theft, from fur thief, from or akin to Greek phōr thief; akin to Greek pherein to carry

First Known Use: 1612
Synonyms: sneaky, shady, shifty, slippery, sly, sneaking, stealthy
(Definition provided by Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

This is a Furtive Flycatcher, one of the 11 endemic flycatchers of the Philippines. This uncommon endemic is confined to the western and northeastern parts of Luzon in the Zambales Mountains and the Northern and Southern Sierra Madres and is found usually in dense second growth particularly climbing bamboo. As the name implies, it is highly secretive, and the drab brown coloration helps it blend in its dark, dense undergrowth habitat. Like most secretive forest birds, this one is best located by its faint high pitched 2-3-note call, (similar to its Mindanao relative – the Little Slaty Flycatcher) given while perched motionlessly in the dense bamboo tangles.

This Furtive Flycatcher will be one of the first of many videos that we will be featuring to highlight one of the new birding destinations in Northern Luzon: Camp Sawa in Penablanca Protected Landscape, Cagayan Valley. Be sure to come back regularly to see videos of birds from this excellent site: Rufous Hornbills, White-lored Oriole, Golden-crowned Babbler and biggest “jewel” of the Philippine forest floor – the stunning Whiskered Pitta and many more.

To know more about Camp Sawa – read a local birder’s experience here.

Furtive Flycatcher, Ficedula disposita
Camp Sawa, Penablanca Protected Landscape, Cagayan Valley, Luzon, Philippines

** Depending on the taxonomy, as some authors would like to lump the Philippines’ endemic family – the Rhabdornises to the starlings

Apo Myna, Basilornis miranda
November 2011 and January 2012,
Mt. Kitanglad Range National Park, Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines

This is the place for both the oldest works of art and the largest owl in the Philippines

There are 127 human and animal figures engraved on the rockwall dating back to 3000 BC.

A skull, lower jaw and smaller bones of a poor rodent...

This species, just like many of the Philippines’ nocturnal birds, is very poorly known with very little information on breeding habits and ecology. In the video, the first part features the adult female guarding the newly-fledged immature from a nearby tree. The immature can be seen at around 2:30 minutes into the video.

Philippine Eagle-Owl, Bubo philippensis
Angono Petroglyphs, Angono, Rizal, Luzon, Philippines

Indigo-banded Kingfisher, Alcedo cyanopecta
November 2011, Mt. Makiling, Laguna, Luzon, Philippines

Some birders/taxonomists have split this species from the Visayan Wattled Broadbill seen in Bohol, Leyte and Samar. The birds from Bohol and Samar differ from the Mindanao birds by having a light purple wing patch instead of the yellow wing patch as seen here in the video.

This pair was videoscoped in one of our birding tours last January in the forests of PICOP, Surigao del Sur, Eastern Mindanao, Philippines with a Swarovski ATM 80mm HD, 25-50x eyepiece, Canon Powershot S95 with a Swarovski Universal Camera Adaptor.

Mindanao Wattled Broadbill, Eurylaimus steerii
January 2012, PICOP, Surigao del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines

We discovered the presence of this highly secretive bird in a park within busy Manila last September and we even found a nest with 3 chicks! (Be sure to check the discovery here). As of our latest tour this month, the adult was still seen in the area and so we hope that this little known endemic will still continue to find a safe refuge and stay in the city.

Ashy Ground Thrush, Zoothera cinerea
La Mesa EcoPark, Quezon City, Manila, Philippines, November 2011

This endemic is often observed hawking insects from a dead tree outside TREES Hostel right at the start of the Forestry Trail at Mt. Makiling in UP Los Banos. At the time this video was taken, there were a total of 8 falconets perched on the tree!

Philippine Falconet, Microhierax erythrogenys
December 2011, Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve, Laguna, Luzon, Philippines