Ruili is a Chinese language metropolis proper on the border to Myanmar, and a significant border crossing. After I final visited the city virtually 10 years in the past, it had a Wild West really feel, and Wikipedia claims that it’s “an vital location for commerce with Myanmar, in each authorized and unlawful items and companies” however it appeared fairly tame to me this time. My main wrestle within the metropolis was with the gear in an excellent fashionable lodge room, with directions all in Chinese language, stopping me from getting a sizzling bathe and sizzling espresso within the morning. I admit this isn’t fairly on the extent of fellow writers’ posts describing birding as an excessive sport.
The proximity to the Myanmar border is mirrored within the presence of Burmese Shrikes right here – on the flawed facet of the border, however it’s well-known that this species has by no means been notably good at geography.
Its scientific title is a bit pathetic – collurioides, which means that it resembles (-oides) the Pink-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio). A extremely artistic title this isn’t.
The identical park in Ruili additionally had Lengthy-tailed Shrike, presumably subspecies tricolor, which right here appears to be like fairly completely different from the subspecies widespread in Shanghai (schach). In case you are impressed by me mentioning subspecies, don’t be – I simply regarded it up within the HBW however principally, I nonetheless assume that subspecies must be unlawful.
Someway I had beforehand not seen the great thing about the Coppersmith Barbet, a fowl that may certainly be recognized comparatively simply by its name that can be liable for its title (it’s a metallic name that sounds considerably like a coppersmith hammering metallic).
This picture explains the scientific species title haemacephalus (bloodheaded).
Apparently, the Chinese language title highlights the pink breast somewhat than the pink head – it interprets roughly as “Pink-breasted Imitation Woodpecker”.
The HBW – in a barely Puritan streak – appears to criticize the work ethics of the species: “It apparently begins exercise 5-10 minutes earlier than dawn, later than different fowl species sharing its habitat”. Possibly it’s simply higher at attaining work-life stability.
Luckily for human males, the standard courtship of people differs from that of the Coppersmith Barbets, which the HBW describes as follows: “When the nest is prepared, the male might start courtship feeding, providing fruit to the feminine. The feminine generally rejects this fruit, turning her again and defecating within the course of the male”. A extra detailed (and barely much less disgusting) description of the mating habits might be discovered right here.
One paper on the species and its breeding habits has the great sentence “Coppersmith barbet lives fortunately both alone, in pairs, or in small teams of 4 to 5 birds”.
In response to an article within the Enterprise Normal, “Ashy Drongos have chosen the damaging profession of tackling bugs with nasty stings though they don’t possess protecting dense feathers or thick-skin across the eye”.
Ashy Drongos can apparently mimic different birds and imitate the motion of different fowl species, then subsequently attempt to steal their meals (supply).
As with many different drongo species, the Ashy Drongo largely simply sits someplace and appears round, an exercise which in a paper is politely described as “Scanning”.
Whereas the Ashy Drongo thus spends 71% of its time, the Bronzed Drongo tops this with 76%, in line with the identical paper.
“Not lazy, simply scanning”
At any time when there’s a type to fill out, the Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike curses its title. By the point it has completed, the opposite species are already ready in line on the counter, and it has to maneuver to the tip of that line.
The fowl has now began utilizing its scientific title, Hemipus picatus, as it’s considerably shorter.
Maybe the center part of weblog posts must be comparatively boring with a purpose to do away with the extra informal readers. So, listed below are some widespread birds seen at Ruili:
Gray Heron
Plumbeous Water Redstart
White-capped Redstart
Olive-backed Pipit
Pink-vented Bulbul
Pink-whiskered Bulbul
If this publish was a music, the part above may be known as the center eights, although in music, the center eights are typically extra attention-grabbing.
Which is pretty much as good as any location on this publish to say one other music favourite, “Faux Empire“, as ordinary by The Nationwide.
After studying a shiny movie star paper – perhaps about an Oscar celebration – the eBird reviewer will get again to writing quick descriptions of birds however nonetheless has the vocabulary of the journal in his or her head. The result’s an outline of the Velvet-fronted Nuthatch like this: “One of many few nuthatches to interrupt the overall impartial shade scheme of the household, this stunner might be fairly widespread …”.
This species is a cavity nester however unable to construct its personal cavities. Not an awesome scenario given the power housing scarcity in appropriate environments. For instance, one paper states that in Sri Lanka’s cloud forest, solely about 3% of all timber have appropriate cavities.
For some cause, the Mandarin Chinese language title of the Scarlet Minivet interprets as “Pink Mountain Pepper Chook”
I do hope a Chinese language reader of this weblog can clarify the origin or which means of this title.
The web site nepaldesk.com has an outline of the Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush that reads prefer it has been written by ChatGPT after particularly having acquired directions to mock tourism companies:
“With its pleasant presence, the Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush is an emblem of Nepal’s wealthy avian variety. Recognizing its worth for eco-tourism and biogeographical analysis, it’s important to preserve this magnificent fowl. Preserving its habitat via sustainable practices and inspiring accountable wildlife tourism are essential steps in making certain the continued existence of this charismatic species. In conclusion, the Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush provides a splash of shade and attraction to the already spellbinding Nepali wilderness. As we proceed exploring Nepal’s unparalleled magnificence and biodiversity, allow us to respect these shiny gems hidden in its forests and attempt to guard them for future generations to admire.”
Widespread Tailorbirds might be very productive, with as much as 4 broods per 12 months (supply).
In 93% of instances, the birds constructed new nests for every brood regardless of on common solely transferring 10 meters away from the earlier nesting web site. This might trace at an answer for the struggling Chinese language housing market – transferring to a brand new house for every new little one? However, most Chinese language {couples} solely have one little one anyway, so this could not make an excessive amount of of a distinction within the general housing demand.
Some analysis matters appear a bit weird to me. A paper on the Little Cormorant is titled “Actions of the Little Cormorant, Phalacrocorax niger (Vieillot) in relation to daylight in captivity”. Not solely was this examine carried out in a zoo, which ought to critically have an effect on the relevance of the outcome. It additionally appears that no one has ever proofread the summary because it accommodates the next puzzling sentence:
“Time spent in preening was the very best (32.25 min/h) in wet day. Lowest (22.47 min/h) in cloudy day and intermediate (14.73 min/h) in sunny day.” Peer assessment, schmeer assessment?
One other paper asks “Does the weight loss program of the Little Cormorant Microcarbo niger have an effect on business fisheries?”. And concludes that it presumably does.
Slaty-backed Forktails appear to be fairly widespread at Moli Tropical Rainforest Spot, a birding location about half an hour away from Ruili by automotive.
2024 additionally lastly sees the long-awaited launch of a paper on the entire mitochondrial genome of the Slaty-backed Forktail. I hope there are nonetheless just a few species left for future scientists to investigate.
Aside from bugs, these forktails additionally eat small fish – some photographs might be seen in this paper.
Lastly, the White-hooded Babbler appears to be like a bit like it’s a proud member of essentially the most unique tennis membership in a smallish city. However I don’t maintain that towards the species.
