Tropical garden animals - birds


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Birds

Species: Cinnyris jugularis (Nectarina jugularis) Family: Nectariniidae English: Olive-backed Sunbird Indonesian: Burung-madu seriganti Size: 11 cm Olive-backed Sunbirds are regular visitors of my garden. They usually come for the nectar in the flowers of the Garlic Vine and the Trumpet Vine. As the Trumpet Vine grows above our terrace and the bird are not that shy, it is easy to observe their behaviour and appearance. Both male and female have an olive-green back and yellow breast. The male is distinguished by its dark purple-blue throat which looks black without the right light fall. An important part of the Sunbird's diet is nectar. I always thought that the long beak of these birds is used to enter trumpet shaped flowers from the front. In fact the bird gets its nectar in an easier way: it just makes a hole near the basis of the flower. Male Olive-backed Sunbird makes hole in flower of Trumpet Vine to get the nectar. There have been two attempts for nesting by Sunbirds in my garden. Unfortunately none was successful. The first nest was destroyed by heavy wind, the second by unexpected rain in the dry season falling exactly from the roof above it. The nest is a rough woven hanging structure with the entrance at the side. In the cases mentioned above the nests were made in a shrub about 1.5 meter above the ground. One or two eggs per nest seems to be normal.		Female Olive-backed Sunbird visiting the flowers of a Garlic Vine.
		Male Olive-backed Sunbird

Lemon-bellied White-eyes eating the fruits of a Macarthur Palm. At right young begging for food.
Species: Zosterops chloris Family: Zosteropidae English: Lemon-bellied White-eye. Yellow bellied White-eye Indonesian: Kacamata laut Size: 11-12 cm. There are five Macarthur Palms in my garden of which most of the time there is at least one tree bearing ripe fruits. Because of this there are all year round White-eyes visiting. It often looks like these birds together with Bulbuls (see below) do not have much else on their menu than these palm fruits. The White-eyes are easy to recognize by the small white feathers forming a ring around their eyes. In			Indonesian their name is "spectacle bird" (Burung kacamata). This specific species is called Burung kacamata laut in Indonesian. 'Laut' meaning sea, tells us that the birds are found in coastal areas. So, with Makassar being a coastal town, I guess there is nothing special in having this bird species visiting my garden. White-eyes are too small to take whole fruits from the Macarthur Palm. They just pick small pieces until the a fruit is finished or drops from the tree. When there are young, these follow the parents with trembling wings, begging for food all the time. The young have as well a white ring around the eyes. The main difference with their parents is that feathers are more fluffy and their bill is slightly broader.

Species: Passer montanus Family: Passeridae English: Tree Sparrow Indonesian: Burung gereja erasia Size: 14 cm. In the higher part of my garden lives a group of Tree Sparrows. They visit the top to the mango tree, the roof and the TV antenna. For some reason they never visit the lower levels of the garden. This must mean that they can find enough food elsewhere. Tree Sparrows are introduced in Sulawesi. Probably they came here in captivity from other parts of the world. The birds have most of the time nests under the roof tiles of the house. It is a big mystery for me how they and their young can survive there. Under the roof tiles is a metal layer the avoid leakage. With the sun hitting the tiles the temperature in the space in between must be over 50⁰ C during the daytime. It seems they just like it.		Tree Sparrow

Species: Caprimulgus affinis Family: Caprimulgidae English: Savana Nightjar Indonesian: Cabak kota Size: about 25 cm The photo's on the right are really rare. One morning these nightjars were resting in a shady place on the lower roof of the house. They were just sitting there, like waiting for something. Not long after the climbing sun hit their place they were gone. Never after I spotted the birds sitting on the roof again. Nightjars are common in and around Makassar. Usually you hear the bird's call not long after sunset. Their typical 'tsweeek' tells you there are one or more of them flying around. Their wings are relatively long and moving fast and now and then come to a standstill for short gliding. Often the birds make unexpected moves, obviously to catch an insect. In the photo on the right the nightjar's bill is difficult to see. In fact it is very wide (for 'scooping' insects during the flight), but has only a small part that sticks out. The beak extends up to under the eye. It seems the birds are most active in the hours just after sunset and just before sunrise, but can be heard as well during other hours of the night. After sunrise they are gone again. Maybe sitting on somebody else's roof that is shady all day long?


Species: Pycnonotus aurigaster Family: Pycnonotidae English: Sooty-headed Bulbul Indonesian: Cucak kutilang, Kutilang Size: 20 cm Before sunrise, with the first signs of a new day beginning, the singing of the Bulbuls take an important part in bird sounds around my house. In the daytime they fly in groups moving between roof and tree tops until they think it is time to eat again. The Macarthur Palms in my garden are often visited. The birds seem to follow the same pattern all the time: one fruit is eaten on the spot, after that one is taken away to be eaten in an other place. If the much smaller White-eyes happen to be around, they are chased away from the fruits. The Sooty-headed Bulbul is a very common bird in Makassar. If most parts of town with high trees you can see them flying around in groups. Actually the bird has no origins in Sulawesi. The birds escaped from captivity and seem to have increased to a large number.
Young Bulbul with still fluffy feathers and exposed beak sides		Adult Bulbul with Macarthur Palm fruit in its beak


Species: Artamus leucorhynchus Family: Corvidae English: White-breasted Wood-Swallow Indonesian: Kekep babi Size: 19 cm	Sometimes I find a bird species around the house that I do not know yet. The bird in the picture above was sitting one day on the TV antenna. Its head was moving in all directions continuously, probably in search of insects. Sometimes it flew to catch something and came immediately back again to the antenna. If I can make some clear photo's of new visitors I usually can find the species with the help of a bird guide. Without photos the bird often has flown before I can note enough details. A search in my bird guide made me first think that the new guest was a Cuckoo-shrike. But these birds seem only to live in mountain forests. A better look at the pictures told me that the Cuckoo-shrike has a far longer tail. The Swallow-like flight of the visiting bird finally convinced me that I had to look at the members of a different group of birds. That's how I found it to be a White-breasted Wood-Swallow. The Wood-Swallow became a regular visitor of the antenna. Sometime a second bird joins. May be they are breading nearby? Now I know the species I often spot these bird in the rural areas around Makassar. Its status seems to be common.


Species: Gerygone sulphurea Family: Acanthizidae English: Flyeater, Golden-bellied/Yellow-breasted Flyeater, Golden-bellied Fairy-warbler, Yellow-breasted (Gerygone) Warbler, Yellow-breasted Wren-warbler Indonesian: Remetuk Laut Size: 9 cm		The flyeater is a tiny bird that usually is first discovered by its distinctive song existing of a series of tones descending three or four notes. This fast moving bird basically lives on insects. In many areas in Indonesia its status is common. It makes a very attractive ball shaped nest hanging a few meters above the ground. The round entrance made at the side is covered with a little roof. It looks like a "tail" at bottom of nest is sticking out in the opposite direction of the entrance to keep the hanging construction in balance. Unfortunately I have no pictures of a nest yet.

Grey-sided Flowerpecker		Species: Dicaeum celebicum Family: Dicaeidae English: Grey-sided Flowerpecker Indonesian: Cabai panggul-kelabu Size: 9 cm The quality of the picture on the left is a bit poor, but still I am happy that it shows the bright red throat of this little bird. With only 9 cm this Flowerpecker is the smallest bird visiting my garden. Usually it sits in a tree top or antenna and rarely visits lower levels of the garden. Its high and fragile sound is difficult to describe, but easy to recognise again once you know it.


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