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!

Swallows

     Many villagers are familiar with the graceful shape of the swallow gliding gracefully through the sky, catching insects in mid-flight. There are two kinds of swallows found in the village: the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) and the Pacific Swallow (Hirundo tahitica). Both kinds of swallows have glossy blue-black heads and backs, white bellies, and reddish foreheads, throats, and chests. Both also have long, narrow, pointed wings. The two swallows can be told apart by observing their tails. The Barn Swallow has a deeply forked tail. Its outer tail feathers are long and thin. The Barn Swallow also has a glossy blue-black breast band. Sometimes though, this breast band is partially missing or incomplete. The Pacific Swallow has a less deeply forked tail, without the long, thin outer tail feathers. Its belly is also grayish rather than the pale buff or white of the Barn Swallow.  In Pilipino, both kinds of swallows are called layang-layang.

    The Barn Swallow is a world traveler. It is has been called "the most beloved bird in the world". Barn Swallows indeed have many things going in their favor. They are attractively colored, fly gracefully, eat insects, and nest near humans. What's not to love? A few years ago, a pair of Barn Swallows was featured in many websites and passed around in emails. The story was called, "True Love Story of a Bird" and showed one Barn Swallow grieving over the lifeless body of its mate. The Barn Swallow was shown bringing food to it's mate, trying to get it to move, and eventually just looking forlorn, standing on the ground by it's mate. Barn Swallows truly are faithful partners and form monogamous pairs. They breed all over North America, Africa and Eurasia and migrate to South America, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia for winter.

    Pacific Swallows are resident birds. This means that they live and breed in the Philippines the whole year round. Pacific Swallows build cup-shaped nests fastened to eaves of houses, undersides of bridges, and overhangs. Their nests are made mostly of mud, unlike the edible nests of swifts that are made of saliva. Oddly though, there are have been reports of maintenance personnel collecting swallow nests in the village!

      Barn and Pacific Swallows are found in many places all over the village. They are often found together, although the Pacific Swallow is usually found near water. They can be found in groups pursuing insects and catching them in mid-air. This type of feeding is called hawking. Some good areas to see them are in open lots, in the polo field, on the golf course, and the stretch of Country Club Dr. by the golf course.  

photo of a Pacific Swallow by Tonji Ramos

You can see more pictures of Barn Swallows in my website

You can also see more picture of Pacific Swallows in my website
Here's a link to True Love Story of a BIrd
Happy Birding!

Birdwatching Gear

Grey-streaked Flycatcher in the Alabang Country Club

     Do you need any special equipment to go birdwatching in the village? The short answer is: no, you don’t need any equipment at all. You can just go outside and look at the birds with your eyes. Sometimes, you don't even have to go outside at all! You can watch birds from your balcony, your bedroom window, or even from inside your car. However, there are some items that you can use that will make your experience more pleasant and fruitful.

    A pair of binoculars will allow you to appreciate the details of the bird's feathers. Birds come in an amazing variety of colors and patterns. There are birds with bars, spots, and stripes. Even the type of feathers in the bird varies -- from the small downy feathers around the eyes to the large, stiff flight feathers on the wings. Some birds even have bristles! The usual binoculars for birdwatching has a magnification of  8x42. In this example, the first number refers to the amount of magnification and The second number reeds to the amount of light that can enter the lens. There are many articles on the Internet on how to choose a good pair of binoculars. Any type of binoculars, even an inexpensive pair will do for a start.

    A field notebook and pen are useful items to have on hand when you go birdwatching. If you see a bird that you want to be able to identify, you can quickly jot down or even draw the details of the bird while it is still fresh in your mind. Then, later when you get home you can look up the bird online or in a guidebook. If you do this often enough, you will soon have nice personal records of the birds you have seen in the village. Later on, if you decide to join a formal organization like the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (www.birdwatch.ph), you can submit your birdwatching records to the club and they will become part of the official database of Philippine birds.

    A field guide is a book used by birdwatchers to identify birds. It shows photos or paintings of the birds, its diagnostic features, and descriptions of typical behavior and calls. There are two field guides of the birds of the Philippines that are still in print. "A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines" by Robert Kennedy and others is the definitive field guide of Philippine birds.  It is considered the "bible" of Philippine birdwatchers. The other book is "A Photographic Guide to Birds of the Philippines" by Tim Fisher and Nigel Hicks. This book covers 215 out of the 600+ Philippine birds. While it is convenient to have a book that can be carried around and referred to while out birdwatching, it is also possible to just get information from the Internet. You can see photographs of the birds found in Ayala Alabang at www.tonjiandsylviasbirdlist.smugmug.com, under the section called "Birds by Location". You can also read more about birdwatching equipment in the section called “Equipment List”.

You can see more pictures of Grey-streaked Flycatchers on my website 
Tonji also wrote  about our birding gear and photography gear. With pictures!

Lowland White Eye

Lowland White Eye by Tonji Ramos

The Lowland White-eye (Zosterops meyeni) is a bird that is more easily heard than seen. Lowland White-eyes are small, yellow birds that fly from treetop to treetop in flocks twittering all the while. Although they make a lot of noise, they can be easy to miss because they are so small and quick. They also usually stay at the tops of tall trees and it takes a lot of neck straining to get a good look at them.

    There is a story about a photographer who was at the American Cemetery late one afternoon taking landscape pictures. He noticed a lot twittering sounds coming from one of the trees. He walked up to the tree to investigate the sounds. As he got near the tree, everything went silent. He went back to his photography. Then the twittering started up again only to fall silent as soon as he approached the tree where the sounds were coming from. This went on several times. The photographer began to get spooked. Then, just as he was about to think that the trees were haunted by invisible beings, a birdwatcher showed up and pointed out the Lowland White-eyes twittering in the treetops!

    Lowland White-eyes are only about 4 inches long. They have yellowish olive green upperparts, white bellies, and yellow forehead, throat, and under tail. Their most distinctive feature is the white ring around the eye that gives the bird its name.  The white ring around its eye distinguishes it from other small birds found in the village.

    Lowland White-eyes can be found in the tall trees along Country Club Drive, in the portion near the golf course. They are also found in Narra Park and the parking lot in front of La Salle where the trees are not so tall.  They eat insects, spiders, nectar, and berries.

Lowland White Eye on an African Tulip Tree

    Happy Birding!

You can see more photos of Lowland White Eyes in my website