When birding Sabah, Borneo, one nearly inevitably passes by way of Kota Kinabalu, the most important metropolis and the vacation spot of virtually all worldwide flights. Whereas no birder would come right here only for the birds of town, a few of them are value spending just a few hours on. One location to search out them is Tanjung Aru Seashore – I’ll most likely write a separate publish on it later. Another choice is simply to search out some rice paddies on the outskirts and search for birds.
There, you might discover the Java Sparrow. The HBW describes its conservation standing as “considerably paradoxical” – it’s listed as Endangered on its native island of Java as a consequence of trapping for meals and for the cage fowl commerce. Nonetheless, it’s fairly widespread in lots of areas it has been launched to, together with elements of Borneo.
Like many immigrants, the fowl is banned from getting into the USA, although not by the same old authorities companies however by the Division of Agriculture. As a fowl primarily feeding on seeds, it’s considered a risk to crops (the truth is, the Latin species identify of oryzivora combines the phrases for rice, “oryza”, and consuming, “vorus”).
In case you are a listener of classical music, do you like Schoenberg or Bach? In the event you select the latter, your music style is extra aligned with that of Java Sparrows (although the pattern measurement on this examine, 4 birds, of which 2 most popular Bach whereas the opposite two confirmed no clear choice, appears fairly small).
One other examine offers some hope to human males who consider themselves pretty much as good karaoke singers. The examine confirmed that male Java Sparrows in higher situation can sing songs with bigger observe repertoires and better trill efficiency. So, females may additionally take higher singing as an indicator of higher well being.
(I do know I’ve quoted from it earlier than, however have to quote the traces “It didn’t take a lot so that you can fall beneath my spell however up till you then’d by no means seen karaoke sung properly” from Alan Energy’s “Prodigal Son” once more).
Persevering with with the subject of singing, apparently, Zebra Doves are extremely valued for his or her singing, significantly in elements of Southern Thailand.
One supply even states that a spot known as Chana in Thailand is “the rising Southeast Asian capital of Zebra Doves” and that there “the doves will not be solely value greater than gold but additionally maintain larger values within the native society”.
So, when a big gasoline separation plant was inbuilt Songklha, Thailand, the locals weren’t solely frightened in regards to the impression of the emissions on their very own well being but additionally on their Zebra Doves – and subsequent analysis appears to have confirmed these unfavorable results.
The significance of the Zebra Doves‘ singing can also be implied within the Javanese language – apparently, “Zebra Dove” is a Javanese metaphor for a selected vocal sort (supply).
The rice paddies are additionally the habitat of three totally different munia species: the Scaly-breasted Munia …
… the Chestnut Munia (regardless of the eBird assertion that the species “prefers wetter areas than Scaly-breasted Munia” – each had been present in precisely the identical location) …
… and the Dusky Munia. The latter apparently adapts to its scorching and humid atmosphere by lowering its metabolism (supply), an choice that sadly will not be simply accessible to the continuously sweating birdwatcher/fowl photographer.
The latter paper makes me glad to not be concerned in ornithological analysis, because it casually mentions that “Munias proved troublesome to take care of in captivity, wouldn’t eat, and customarily died inside a day or two.”
Perhaps higher to be caught by a Brahminy Kite than to die in a cage of a researcher … although small birds make up for under a small a part of the weight loss program of those kites.
Wordnik defines “Brahminy” as “Dedicated to Siva by the Brahmans”, which solutions one query however results in two follow-on questions, who’s Siva (“Shiva performs a number of roles as a Hindu deity. He’s the nice ascetic, the grasp of fertility, the grasp of poison and drugs, and Lord of Cattle. His mixed roles are exemplary of an inclination in Hinduism to see complementary qualities in a single ambiguous determine”, Brittanica), and who’re the Brahmans (members of the best Hindu caste, that of the priesthood, Oxford Reference). No additional follow-on questions (“What doe Hindu imply? Why is there a Lord of Cattle, and what precisely is his job description? When will you lastly return to the principle subject of this publish, which I believed was birds?”) allowed.
eBird calls the White-breasted Woodswallow a “chunky” fowl – members of the species would possibly discover this barely offensive.
The journal “Australian Chicken Watcher” has a paper titled “White-breasted Woodswallows ‘Artamus leucorhynchus’ feeding on distasteful butterflies” describing woodswallows consuming a sure species of butterflies – however with out explaining why these are “distasteful”. Did science go so far as the researchers consuming among the butterflies themselves, with the intention to choose their style?
Because the photograph under exhibits, these birds keep wholesome by going by way of an elaborate routine of yoga workout routines that by no means work that properly for me.
Apparently, the Malaysian Pied Fantail has solely lately been break up from the Philippine Pied Fantail. Its white eyebrow (you may say supercilium as an alternative if you wish to sound extra scientific) is much less pronounced than that of its Philippine relative, giving it a cuter, much less stern look
Displaying solely the photograph of a feminine Pink-necked Inexperienced Pigeon is unlucky as solely the male has an precise pink neck. Blame the incompetent photographer for not capturing a male.
Sadly for the storyline of my weblog publish, the Latin species identify “vernans” simply means “good” or “flourishing” fairly than being the identify of a merciless and evil Western explorer akin to Edward Vernans, Rely of Aberdeen (1805-1845), a Scottish explorer of Borneo who I simply made up.
I used to be questioning whether or not it’s nonetheless politically appropriate to make use of the phrase pygmy, as in Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker. There are fairly just a few synonyms for pygmy – possibly sooner or later, we should discuss of the Sunda Undersized Woodpecker?
Considerably surprisingly, eBird doesn’t appear to treat this species as cute, calling it as an alternative a “small plain woodpecker”.
I didn’t know earlier than, however there’s a scientific journal titled “Journal of Oil Palm Analysis”. Certainly, driving by way of Borneo in a while this journey, I obtained the impression that no less than the lowlands of Sabah principally include oil palms. Anyway, stated journal has a paper on the weight loss program of the Yellow-vented Bulbul, as this species is a quite common one in oil vegetation.
I assume the researchers – not being ornithologists – didn’t have a very exhausting time writing a sentence akin to “On this examine, 45 people of P. goiavier [Yellow-vented Bulbul] had been dissected for abdomen content material evaluation”.
The outcomes of the examine will not be fully optimistic for the bulbul – whereas it feeds on bugs, which could be seen as useful, one of many major meals objects is a weevil that’s essential in pollinating the oil palms. Certainly, one internet web page is titled “Weevils: The unknown and underappreciated pollination heroes”.
Considerably disappointingly, Yellow-vented Bulbuls will not be drawn to the ethanol in fermenting fruit (supply). I believe I might have labored on some form of joke primarily based on such an attraction. Not solely do these bulbuls feed on the mistaken bugs, in addition they don’t simply lend themselves to some lame jokes. Disappointing.