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A Pair of Guaiaberos

This is a pair of Guaiaberos inspecting a possible nest hole in La Mesa Ecopark, one of the remaining green spaces within Manila. Guaiaberos are endemic green parrots that can be found only in the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao. They are voracious fruit eaters preferring the fig tree locally known as "Tibig" (Ficus nota) and the Macaranga tree. They are usually seen in singles or in pairs but when the Tibig or Macaranga tree is fruiting, sometimes they can be seen in big flocks of 20 or more together with other frugivores like White-eared Brown Doves and Philippine Green Pigeons. The Guaiaberos' all green plumage blends well with the surroundings but they can be easily detected by their high pitched calls given in flight or when feeding. The male Guaiabero has aqua blue lores, cheeks and chin and collar while the female has an almost green head with a yellowish gold collar. They build their nests in abandoned termite mounds in the big branches of trees. A Pair of Guaiaberos, Bolbopsittacus lunulatus March 2014, La Mesa Ecopark, Quezon City, Manila, Luzon, Philippines Video by Adrian Constantino Digiscoped with a Swarovski 80 ATM HD, Panasonic G3, Panasonic 20 mm F1.7 lens, Swarovski UCA (Universal Camera Adapter)

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Nesting Lowland White-eyes

Most of the migrants have left and it is the time for nesting for Philippine resident birds. We have recently stumbled upon these Luzon endemic Lowland White-eyes nesting in a nature park within busy Metro Manila (the new site for this amazing and uncommon Ashy Ground Thrush). 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

Digiscoping a common garden bird:
Pied Fantail [HD]

This is a Pied Fantail, a common, garden and urban bird in the Philippines. Locally called maria capra, it is very territorial and has been observed to attack cats, even dogs while protecting its air space. It usually perches on exposed branches and flies out to catch insects on the wing. This was taken from our backyard, where there is an abundance of insects attracted by the poop from Trinket's two dogs. A couple of years back, whenever the migratory season is in its full swing and the backyard Brown Shrike arrives (see related story here), this Pied Fantail gets bullied and is relegated to the periphery of the yard. But this season, there are now two of them, and they do not allow the Brown Shrike to lord over the garden. In fact, the perch you're seeing in the video used to be the favorite perch of the Brown Shrike! This is one of my early attempts in (video) digiscoping with my new rig: a Swarovski ATM 80 HD, 25-50x eyepiece, Swarovski Universal Camera Adapter (UCA) coupled with a Panasonic GF1 and a 20 mm lens. Interested in digiscoping? Make sure to check our website again soon for a Digiscoping 101 blog post from Filipino premiere bird guide and digiscoper Nicky Icarangal. He will be sharing the basics of digiscoping as well as some techniques and secrets to improve your digiscoping skills. Or just "like" us in Facebook here, so you can receive instant notifications when we update our blog or just subscribe to our RSS Feeds at the bottom of this page. Hope you enjoy this video and happy birding! -- Adri Pied Fantail, Rhipidura javanica December 2011, Manila, Philippines

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Colasisi (Philippine Hanging Parrot)

This is a video of a pair of Colasisis, sometimes called Philippine Hanging Parrots. They are the smallest parrots in the Philippines with an average length of only 6 inches. These cute, little green bullets are found in most islands in the Philippines (except Palawan). They live in a variety of habitats; from lowland forests up to 1000 meters, mossy forests up to 2500 meters, even in wooded parks and gardens in the cities. Both male and female have red patches on the forehead but only the males have a red patch on the breast while the female has blue patches near the eyes. These parrots feed on blossoms and juices from flowering and fruiting trees like coconuts, bananas, fig trees, and this rambutan tree in the video. Colasisi (Philippine Hanging Parrot), Loriculus philippensis October 2011, Quezon City, Philippines

The Butcher is Back!

And here is something for all the backyard birders out there, a cross-post from Birding Adventure Philippines' blogger Trinket Canlas. Original post can be seen here.) As the wind and rain of back-to-back typhoons pedring and quiel blow and pour, there is an uneasy truce in the backyard. the migrant brown shrike has arrived in the garden, much to the dismay of the current ruling species, the pied fantail (well, at least i imagine the pied fantail must feel something akin to dismay). yesterday, i saw a pair of fantails still whizzing across the garden to catch insects from their favorite pot perches, while the brown shrike picked at something it had caught and impaled on the kafir lime bush. a noisy skirmish would transpire when they would meet up at the gumamela bush and the swing base, ending with both parties retreating to their secured territory. the bulbuls must be amused at this tug-of-war for dominance over the backyard. unfortunately, if all goes the way of previous years, the resident fantails will be relegated to the next door empty lot and the high canopy of the mango tree while the brown shrike will rule over the yard for the rest of the season until summer.

Pied Fantail — the pied fantail's days of lording of the backyard sill soon be over... until summer that is

Brown Shrike — the brown shrike, the new boss of the backyard, back with his old murderous ways

hardly a week since it arrived, adri and i already caught the shrike with a victim. another poor tree frog slaughtered into choice meat sections strung up on the thorns of the kafir lime. once again the small head was pierced thru its eye socket, and limbs suspended at the joints. flies and the stench of death surround the crime scene.

impaled frog — flies hovering over a poor decapitated tree frog's head, pierced thru its eye socket

spindly legs, still with a lot of muscle, blood vessels and skin...

the brown shrike making the most of its latest victim/meal

(try to ignore the panting dog in the background... it's just maggie, my cute lab. 🙂 )

small animals of the backyard beware. the butcher is back.

Leaving the nest…

Trinket Canlas shares the joys of backyard birding ... (A cross-post from fellow Birding Adventure Philippines' blogger Trinket Canlas) i absolutely love seeing (& watching of course) fledglings with their parents in the garden! it means that the cycle of life is still in motion, and that my neighborhood is still a welcome place for the birds. this year, the pied fantails seem to have only one fledgling... there's only one persistent young bird continuously badgering its parents. it's amusing how they would fly in circles around our house, taking off to the right and appearing a minute later from the left! a couple of years ago, there were 5 fledglings in hot pursuit of their dad/mom! it must be a never ending "feed me! feed me!" for these committed parents. but this young one has learned fast and has become quite an expert in snatching flies and other goodies from just above the grass. its graceful maneuvers are mesmerizing, with loud clicks of the wings (beak? i could never figure it out) with each turn. still, nothing beats begging for free food from mom/dad!

Pied Fantails - An immature (on the right) begging the parent for food

right on time for rambutan season, adri & i were delighted to see this pair of Colasisis feasting voraciously on the first fruit to ripen! as with every year, these little parrots were oblivious to our staring eyes. little wonder, since their red and green blend perfectly with the rambutan tree. it's difficult to spot them once they land if not for their noisy chatter which gives them away! adri had a grand (and intense!) photo op last weekend with this pair. the immature bird playfully lives up to its name of Philippine Hanging Parrot.

i suppose these fledglings will stay with their parents for a few more weeks after leaving the nest, learning to find food and avoid predators and interact with others of their kind: survival camp for the birds. and the cycle continues... Happy birding everyone! Continue reading