White-Breasted Waterhen

White-Breasted Waterhen in Candaba, Pampanga

     The White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) is a chicken-like, 11-inch long bird usually found near   water. In the village, it can be found in the near the creek of San Juanico park and by the water hazards of the golf course. Its back, crown, and wings are dark, its face and underparts are white, and its flanks and undertail are reddish-brown. In birding terminology, this reddish-brown color is usually described as rufous. It has a yellow bill and yellow legs with long yellow toes. The long toes help the White-breasted Waterhen walk on top of water plants.

    Seeing a White-breasted Waterhen often requires a bit of patience. Most people usually imagine that birdwatching involves a lot of sitting around while patiently waiting for a bird to show up. Not all birdwatching is like that though. Sometimes, birdwatchers have to hike and pursue the birds they want to see. With the White-breasted Waterhen however, patience and quiet waiting work well. When they are relaxed and undisturbed, they can be observed walking in the open, feeding, and even frolicking in the water. The sight or sound of anything alarming however will send them running into the bushes for cover.
   
    The creeks of the village and water hazards of the golf course attract all kinds of creatures. My husband and I once observed a huge monitor lizard stalking the White-breasted Waterhens in one of the ponds at the golf course. The White-breasted Waterhens were washing and preening themselves by the edge of the water. They were moving further and further out from the bushes, walking from one big half-submerged stone to another. They were unaware of the huge monitor lizard slowly swimming its way toward them, with only the top of its head showing. Then, just as a Lizard vs Waterhen battle seemed imminent, the Waterhens suddenly noticed the monitor lizard and ran for cover!

    One of the great things about birdwatching is that you can be safe and secure inside your very own village and still have an amazing "Nat Geo" moment. You can witness things that will make you think for a minute that you are in an exciting National Geographic wildlife documentary instead of a cozy suburban village. 
  
See more photos of the White-Breasted Waterhen in this gallery .
See photos of the Monitor Lizard stalking the Waterhens in this album !

Shrikes

Brown Shrike by Sylvia Ramos

     There are two kinds of shrikes found in the village, the Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) and the Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus). Shrikes are a familiar sight to many villagers. They are known in Pilipino as "tarat". They are bold and striking-looking birds that are often seen perched arrogantly on an exposed branch or perch, as if surveying their own little kingdom. Shrikes are also known as butcher birds (different from butcherbird, another type of bird) because they are expert hunters with an unusual eating habit. Shrikes hunt even when they are full. Then, they save their food to eat later by impaling it on a sharp thorn or the barb of barbed wire. They drive their catch powerfully into the thorn or barbed wire until the tip of the thorn or barb shows through. Shrikes usually prey on insects. But, they are also known to prey on frogs, lizards, rodents, and even other birds!

    Shrikes look like little hawks. They have a powerful, raptor-like, hooked bill and sharp claws for holding down their prey. The Long-tailed Shrike has a black head, grey back bordered in cinnamon, long black tail, white underparts and cinnamon under the tail and at the flanks or the sides of the lower torso. The Brown Shrike looks similar to a Long-tailed Shrike except that it has a grey forehead, greyish-brown head, golden-buff breast and belly, and a shorter tail.

    Long-tailed Shrikes are resident birds and Brown Shrikes are migrants. Being a resident means that Long-tailed Shrikes live and breed in the Philippines the whole year round. They are also found in other countries. Their range extends from Iran to India, China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia to New Guinea. Birds that breed and live exclusively in the Philippines are called Philippine endemics. Being a migrant means that Brown Shrikes breed in northern Asia and winter in the Philippines. It is amazing to think that the Brown Shrikes in the village flew all the way from China to feed in the gardens of Ayala Alabang.

You can see more pictures of the Brown Shrike and Long Tailed Shrike on my website of Philippine birds.

Pied Triller

Pied Triller in Ayala Alabang

   There are two kinds of black and white birds that are found in the village. One is the Pied Fantail (Rhipidura javanica), a very bold bird known for attacking dogs and cats that stray into its territory. The other black and white bird is the inconspicuous Pied Triller (Lalage nigra). The Pied Triller has a very apt name. In birding terminology, Pied means black and white. Triller refers to the musical, quavering "che-che-che-che" call it makes.

    Male and female Pied Trillers can be told apart by their coloring. The males have all white underparts, while the females have grayish white underparts with fine barring. Both males and females have black heads, white eyebrows, black backs, and black and white wings. Like many other birds, the immature birds have similar coloring to the females.

    Pied Trillers are usually found on tree tops, picking off caterpillars from the branches. Aside from caterpillars, they also eat moths and other kinds of insects. They are found all over the village in different kinds of trees.

      Last summer, there was a Pied Triller nesting in a tree along our street. The tree was in front of or neighbor's house. One day, my husband and I approached the nest and were surprised when the usually low-key Pied Triller attacked us! It buzzed us -- flying straight at our heads as if it intended to hit us. It did this several times, swerving away at the last moment and calling out in alarm the whole time. Of course we shouldn't have been too surprised and should have known better than to approach a nesting bird. This is one of the golden rules of birding: do not disturb nesting birds! We quickly moved away from the nest and did not bother the bird again.

    A few days ago, we were sitting outside our front door enjoying the breeze and noticed a Pied Triller perched on the topmost branch of our neighbor's akasya tree. It was just sitting quietly. Perhaps it was also enjoying the unusually cool breeze. We hope that this summer the Pied Triller returns to nest in our street again.

Click on this link to see more pictures of Pied Trillers by Tonji and Sylvia Ramos

Golden-Bellied Flyeater

Golden-bellied Flyeater by Tonji Ramos

     My daughter and I used to go walking around the village every afternoon. While we were out on our walk one day, we were stopped in our tracks by a very unusual birdcall. The call was a 5-note tune, something like whee-whee-wh-whee-woo, repeated over and over again. It was so loud that we were sure that the bird was very big and very close by. We looked all around, eager to spot this great bird singer. But, we couldn't find it! We kept on hearing the bird calling. Soon it felt like the bird was mocking us. It sounded like it was singing, "you-can-not-seeee-me"! Some weeks later, I was out with some birdwatcher friends and heard the same, familiar call. I asked my friends what bird was making the call. I was expecting them to name some unusual bird. To my surprise, they said it was the Golden-bellied Flyeater.

    The Golden-bellied Flyeater is a very small, unassuming bird. It is only 4 1/2 inches long. From the looks of it, you would not guess that it has such a loud voice. Birds however are especially good at making sounds. They have air sacs all over their body that enable them to breathe very efficiently. Then, they have a very efficient sound box in their throat called a syrinx that can convert almost 100% of the air expelled into sound. The Golden-bellied Flyeater is also a ventriloquist. It can throw its voice so you cannot easily tell where the sound is coming from.

    Another thing that makes the Golden-bellied Flyeater hard to find is that it usually stays in the treetops. Instead of trying to find a tiny bird on top of a tree, it is better to just relax your eyes and try to spot some movement in the leaves. A closer inspection of the moving area with pair of binoculars will often reveal a bird. The Golden-bellied Flyeater is found all over the village.  It is usually found either alone or in pairs. Some good places to see the Golden-bellied Flyeater in the village are along Country CIub Driver, at the parking lot on front of la Salle, and in Narra Park.

You can see more pictures of Golden-bellied Flyeaters in my website

Happy Birding!

Meet the Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker

     Most Filipinos who are not birdwatchers will readily admit that they don’t know many Philippine birds beyond the maya or Eurasian Tree Sparrow. What’s surprising though, is that many Filipinos are more familiar with foreign birds than Philippine birds. Even non-birdwatchers can easily identify birds like swans, flamingoes, penguins, cardinals, and woodpeckers. So it comes as a surprise to many people to discover that there are woodpeckers inside Ayala Alabang village. “Really?” they say.

     

     Woodpeckers are not just American birds. There are 6 species of woodpeckers that are found in the Philippines. The woodpecker species that is found inside Ayala Alabang is the Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker (Dendrocopos maculatus). It is the smallest of the woodpeckers found in the Philippines. It is also a Philippine endemic species, meaning that it is found only in the Philippines. It measures about 5 ½ inches in length with a black and white barred throat and chest, black back with white bars or stripes, and brown wings with white spots.

     

     © Tonji Ramos 2010

     With its small size and muted colors of brown and black, the Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker can be difficult to see. It is also easy to mistake it for a maya. This is where the sense of hearing comes into play. It is usually easier to listen for the bird first and then try to locate the bird by sound. To see a Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker in the village, first go to a place where they are likely to be found. Then, listen for their sound, try to pinpoint where the sound is coming from, and look for movement in the area. When it is feeding, it makes a tap-tap-tapping sound as its beak strikes the tree. It is known in Pilipino as Karpintero-maliit (small carpenter) because of the distinctive hammering sound it makes on the tree branches. It also has a call that sounds like a high-pitched, rapid-fire “tri-i-i-i-i-i-i”. It sounds like a tiny, trilling jackhammer. Two good areas to see these birds are Narra Park and the parking lot across from La Salle Zobel.

     

     Philippine Pygmy Woodpeckers are fascinating to watch. They use their feet to grasp and their tail to brace against the branches or trunk of a tree and they hop up and down the tree searching for insects. They can even walk upside down! They also constantly bob their heads up and down to get at the insects that are lodged within the crevices of the bark.

     

 Walking upside down! © Tonji Ramos 2010 

      Philippine Pygmy Woodpeckers also use their powerful beaks to make nesting holes, usually in dead branches. This is something that should be kept in mind when gardening or landscaping. Those dead branches that seem useless are actually likely homes for birds like the Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker. 

Click on the links to see more:

• Philippine Pygmy Woodpeckers
• 6 species of woodpeckers found in the Philippines
• More Philippine Birds

Meet the Blue Tailed Bee Eater

     Summer is a busy time for many birds. They are noisier and more active than usual.  The summer months are breeding time for many birds. They are chirping to one another to establish territories and find mates. Then, they fly back and forth from one tree to another to feed, gather nesting materials, and later on to gather for food their young.

perching on a telephone wire

     

     A summer visitor to Ayala Alabang that is relatively easy to see and observe is the Blue Tailed Bee Eater (Merops philippinus).  It is about 11 ½ inches long and brightly colored. It has a rusty red throat, greenish-yellow belly and chest, olive-green back, long, sky blue tail feathers, and a long thin curved beak. In Pilipino it is known as pirik-pirik. Unlike some birds that are hard to spot because they hide within tree branches, the Blue Tailed Bee Eater is easy to see because it perches on telephone wires and exposed branches. Blue Tailed Bee Eaters often travel in flocks. In Alabang, they have been seen in groups of 8 or 15 or sometimes solo. It is usually their loud “churrp” call that first alerts one to their presence.

     

it catches insects in mid-air

     As its name implies, the Blue Tailed Bee Eater eats bees. It also eats other flying insects like dragonflies. The Blue Tailed Bee Eater sits on a high perch like a telephone wire, keeping an eye on the flying insects. Then, when it spots its target, it swoops into the air and deftly captures the insect in its beak. It then returns to its perch with the insect. If its prey is a bee with a stinger, it will knock the bee against the perch to remove the stinger before eating the bee.

back on the wire with its prey

     

     Blue Tailed Bee Eaters are a colorful and beautiful summer visitor to our village. They add to the diversity of wildlife that can be found inside Ayala Alabang. It is wonderful to know that they are welcome here. In other places, such as Tagaytay, commercial beekeepers consider the Blue Tailed Bee Eaters pests. The commercial beekeepers introduced imported European honeybees to the area. These bee colonies attract bee eaters and other bee eating birds which the beekeepers then shoot down to protect their hives! However, shooting bee-eaters that are near a beehive is not only criminal, but also very cruel.  It doesn’t actually do much to protect the bees since they can still get caught and eaten while they are out foraging. Bees can fly up to 3 km away from their hives in search of pollen. Many Bee Eaters are needlessly being killed just to provide businessmen with honey, candles and soap to sell. Thankfully, they are admired and appreciated here!

    Blue Tailed Bee Eaters are not usually seen in Alabang at other times of the year. Last month, they were seen in various parts of the village such as: Champaca corner Country Club Dr., Country Club Drive, Taysan St., Batangas St, and the golf course.

Click on the links to see

•  more pictures of Blue Tailed Bee Eaters 
•  our website tonjiandsylviasbirdlist.smugmug.com