Category: Bird Videos

Philippine Trogon [HD]

(Blogger's note: Sorry, a long overdue post, we have been busy with the upcoming 7th Philippine Bird Festival. Try to come and join us. Visit www.birdwatch.ph or click here for more details ) This is a Philippine Trogon, a strikingly beautiful endemic found only in the islands of Luzon and its satellites, Samar, Leyte, Bohol and Mindanao. It is very colorful bird, probably more than 7 colors in the male - with its bill yellow-tipped with a pea-green base, cobalt blue facial skin surrounding a dark brown eye, a black forecrown while the hind crown and nape purplish maroon; back and rump orange rufous, and a deep red belly. And we did not even include the highly-debated "colors" black and white for the wing coverts and the primaries. 🙂 This endemic inhabits forests up to 2000 meters and is usually seen singly or in pairs with a more drab-looking (but still beautiful) female. It feeds on insects and fruits and nests on holes in dead hollow trees similar to woodpecker nests. The call is described in the field guide as a soft nuu nu nu nu nu nu nu nuuu rising and accelerating with the first few notes m then gradually descending and slowing to the end. For me, it is similar to a neighing horse. 🙂 Philippine Trogon, Harpactes ardens July 2011, Mt. Bulusan, Sorsogon, Luzon, Philippines

Mindanao Tarictic Hornbill [HD]

This is a Mindanao Tarictic Hornbill, one of the 10 endemic hornbills of the Philippines. It favors forest and forest edge up to 1500 meters and is usually found in pairs or small family groups. Hornbills are amazing creatures - Tarictics are known to lay 3 eggs in tree cavities with the female individual completely enclosed in the cavity during incubation. So when a male Tarictic dies during the breeding season, the whole family is in danger since it is the male who will bring food for the female and its chicks. They are also efficient re-foresters of the mountains. They are excellent seed-dispersal agents: they are known to gather several fruits and store them in their crop and can transport them over cleared forest areas or plantations, from one forest patch to another, in the process spreading seeds more efficiently than rodents and primates. You want to save our forests? - Save our hornbills! They are our allies in keeping our rainforests healthy and diverse. Mindanao Tarictic Hornbill, Penelopides affinis September 2010, Mt. Kitanglad Range, Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines

Little Pied Flycatcher [HD]

This Little Pied Flycatcher is a fairly common inhabitant of the forest canopy, understory and edge usually in montane forests. This video is of a male individual taken in Mt. Kitanglad Range National Park in Bukidnon, Mindanao, Southern Philippines. The female is more drab with greyish head and back and lacking the black and white plumage of the male. This bird can also be seen in the high elevation mountains of Negros (belonging to the endemic subspecies rabori), so it is also possible to see this bird in one of the post-birding trips of the 7th Philippine Bird Festival: BIRDS IN THE WILD HELP FORESTS THRIVE! Thanks for viewing and Happy Birding! Little Pied Flycatcher, Ficedula westermanni September 2010, Mt. Kitanglad Range National Park, Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines

7th Philippine Bird Festival:
Flame-templed Babbler [HD]

The 7th Philippine Bird Festival is the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines' annual birdwatching and bird conservation event featuring lectures, exhibits, children's activities and a bird forum with resource speakers coming from various government and non-government agencies and the academe. This annual event hosts foreign birders from birding clubs from Taipei, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore and other Asian countries as well as local participants from non-government organizations (NGOs) working for wildlife conservation. This year the 7th PBF will be held this 23-24 September 2011 in the beautiful city of Dumaguete, in partnership with Silliman University and the local governments of Dumaguete and Negros Oriental. This year's theme is BIRDS IN THE WILD HELP FORESTS THRIVE! and will focus on the role of birds in keeping our forests intact as well as the conservation of critically-endangered birds found only in Negros.
7th Philippine Bird Festival in Dumaguete
Wild Bird Club of the Philippines' 7th Philippine Bird Festival will be held this September 23-24, 2011 in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental
There will be before- and after-Bird Festival trips that will showcase the amazing avifaunal diversity of Negros Island. The main target would be to see the Festival's logo in the wild: the rare and highly-endangered Negros Bleeding Heart as well as other specialties like White-winged Cuckoo-shrike, Negros forms of Balicassiao (a type of drongo), Blue-headed Fantail, Spotted Wood Kingfisher, White-browed Shama, and this Flame-templed Babbler, probably the best-looking endemic babbler in the Philippines. If you're still wondering if you should attend the Festival and its birding trips, maybe this video will persuade you to go. 🙂 Flame-templed Babbler, Stachyris speciosa April 2011, Mt. Kanlaon, Negros Occidental, Philippines Many thanks to Arnel Telesforo for the wonderful PBF logo!

A nice pair of bright red boots!
 (on a Silvery Kingfisher)

Check out the bright "red boots" on this small, good-looking endemic: the Silvery Kingfisher. This kingfisher was videoed one rainy day in the forests of PICOP, Surigao del Sur, lowland Mindanao. The Silvery Kingfisher is a 3-toed kingfisher that can be found only in the islands of Mindanao and its satellites, Bohol, Leyte and Samar. It perches on rocks and on low-lying branches along the banks of forest streams and small rivers hunting for small fish and crustaceans. This rainy season, don't you think it will be nice to keep your feet dry with a nice pair of red boots? Happy Birding! Silvery Kingfisher, Alcedo argentata January 2011, PICOP Forest, Surigao del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines

Philippine Falconet [HD]

Introducing the Philippines smallest raptor: the cute (but can be mean) Philippine Falconet. The Philippine Falconet is only 6 1/2 inches in length and is found in most Philippine islands except Palawan. Its serrated beak and enormous claws are its most potent weapons in catching dragonflies, other insects, lizards, small invertebrates and even small birds! The field guide describes it as "feisty" and it has been observed mobbing the Great Philippine Eagle. Definitely, a meanie! Philippine Falconet, Microhierax erythrogenys December 2010, Subic Bay Forest, Luzon, Philippines

Dung-on-a-twig: Mistletoe and Birds
[Part 3]

This is the last installment for our series on mistletoes and birds. This Fire-breasted Flowerepecker from Mt. Kitanglad demonstrates the same behavior exhibited by this Pygmy Flowerpecker from Mt. Makiling and and this Buzzing Flowerpecker from Mt. Polis. On the first and second segments of the video, the bird poops out the very sticky substance containing mistletoe seeds then wipes it off a branch. This is how mistlestoes are propagated and just shows the importance of birds in regenerating our forests. This Fire-breasted Flowerpecker is a high-elevation, uncommon, resident bird that ranges from the Himalayas to Southern China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and the Philippines. Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Dicaeum ignipectus September 2010 & January 2011, Mt. Kitanglad, Bukidnon, Philippines

a calling Rufous-headed Tailorbird [HD]

The Rufous-headed Tailorbird is one of the 10 tailorbirds ranging in the Philippines. The one featured here is a high elevation Mindanao endemic and can be seen singly, in pairs or sometimes in mixed flocks in montane forests above 800 meters. It was previously lumped with Mountain Tailorbird but some naturalists treat this heterolaemus race as a separate species based on the differences in plumage and bird calls from birds from Luzon and Palawan. This individual was videoed in one of the country's best birding spots: Mt. Kitanglad Range in Bukidnon, Mindanao, Southern Philippines. Digiscoping note: Here is an example of a bird that is difficult to photograph using a digiscoping set-up. Firstly, this bird is very small, 4 1/2 inches from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail so getting it to fill the frame will be quite a challenge. Secondly, this tailorbird is very active and skittish and will not perch on a spot for very long so you'll have to be quick in order to get usable shots. It is very difficult to get but it can be done with the right equipment, lots of patience and practice (and luck). It also pays to know the habit of the bird so you can somewhat predict where the bird will perch next. Happy digiscoping! Rufous-headed Tailorbird, Orthotomus heterolaemus September 2010, Mt. Kitanglad Range, Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines

Dung-on-a-twig: Mistletoe and Birds
[Part 2]

This is the continuation of the blog post: Dung-on-a-twig: Mistletoe and Birds last week. Here is another video showing how mistletoes are propagated. This time a Pygmy Flowerpecker, Dicaeum pygmaeum does the job of pooping the very sticky mistletoe seeds and wiping it off a branch. The Pygmy Flowerpecker is a common and widespread endemic ranging in most Philippine Islands including Palawan. This flowerpecker is particularly fond of Loranthus mistletoe and prefers lowland forest up to 1000 meters. The call is similar to tapping two pebbles together and is given almost continuously while foraging on fruiting and flowering trees. See the bird stretching first and then pooping next at around 0:40 into the video clip. Next week: Last installment for this series. Happy birding! Pygmy Flowerpecker, Dicaeum pygmaeum January 2011, Mt. Makiling, Laguna, Philippines

White-cheeked Bullfinch [HD]

This White-cheeked Bullfinch Pyrrhula leucogenis is a high elevation Luzon, Negros and Mindanao endemic that favors the canopy and understory of montane forests above 1250 meters. This particular bird was seen feeding by the roadside in the highlands of Mt. Polis, the Cordilleras, Northern Luzon, Philippines last January during our trip with UK-based tour operator BIRDQUEST. The field guide lists this bird as uncommon but it is fairly noisy and conspicuous when feeding on mistletoe (yes, we have mistletoes in the Philippines) and dried sunflowers (just like the Mindanao endemic Red-eared Parrotfinch with picture here and video here.) White-cheeked Bullfinch, Pyrrhula leucogenis January 2011, Mt. Polis, the Cordilleras, Northern Luzon, Philippines Continuation of last post about mistletoes and birds up next. Check it out soon!