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.
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!
This week I was rewarded with a lifer - a nesting colony of Bridled Terns on San Bernandino Island, an isolated rocky islet in the Pacific, off the coast of Sorsogon, Southern Luzon. The Philippine field guide lists this seabird as a rare resident and was previously recorded only in Apo Reef in Mindoro, Maturin Rocks in Catanduanes, Sulu Sea and in other isolated islands off the coast of Mindanao, Palawan and the Batanes and Babuyan Islands in the northern extremes of the Philippines.
It is a medium-sized tern with long wings and a deeply forked tail. The upperparts are dark brownish grey and the head is black with a distinctive white "V" on the forehead. It is mostly a pelagic species but returns to rocky islets to roost and to nest. Eggs are scattered in the inaccessible cracks on the islets' sheer cliffs.
Bridled Tern, Sterna anaethetus
July 2011, San Bernandino Island, off Bulusan, Sorsogon, Southern Philippines
Bridled Tern, San Bernandino Island, www.birdingphilippines.comBridled Tern, San Bernandino Island, www.birdingphilippines.comBridled Terns restingBridled Tern, San Bernandino Island, www.birdingphilippines.com
It was an exciting trip, we had to take a 1 1/2 hour boat ride from Sorsogon to reach San Bernandino island. The waves were quite big considering there was no storm and we left early in the morning (when the Pacific Ocean should be relatively calmer). We rode a big, stable motorized outrigger banca designed to fit 30 people (we were only 4 plus the 3 boatmen) because at these times of the year the seas can become rough due to the monsoons. But when we reach the islet, we were rewarded with an awesome sight: a beautiful lighthouse on top of a hill surrounded by rocky cliffs, clear and wonderful reefs supporting a variety of marine life and of course the magnificent colony of seabirds roosting on the island. We were greeted by Eastern Reef Egrets in dark and white phases, then came the Bridled and Black-naped Terns. Our team was able to count around 220 Bridled Terns and 100 Black-naped Terns. Unfortunately, eggs of either the Bridled or the Black-naped Tern, or both, were being collected at the time of our visit from the larger island (with the lighthouse) by one man. Our boatmen reported that eggs are gathered regularly from the island. We reported the incident to the authorities since nesting colonies of this rare species are highly uncommon and this site should be protected at all cost.
San Bernandino Lighthouse "Parola"San Bernandino Lighthouse / www.birdingphilippines.com Black-naped Tern, Sterna sumatrana
July 2011, San Bernandino Island, off Bulusan, Sorsogon, Southern Philippines
Black-naped Tern/www.birdingphilippines.com
Many thanks to our hosts for this trip: World Bank - Philippines and the honorable Mayor Ronnel Lim and the Municipality of Gubat, Sorsogon.
Next week, something for the upcoming 7th Philippine Bird Festival!
Happy Birding!
Adri Constantino
www.birdingphilippines.com
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
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
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
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
A mistletoe growing on a host tree. Photo by Marites Cervero
Yes, we have mistletoes here in the Philippines. Mistletoes are botanically interesting plants as they are hemiparasites (or partial parasites). They usually grow on trunks or branches of trees and send out roots that penetrate the host tree's branches. They can generate their own food through photosynthesis but they can also extract some nutrients from their host tree.
Mistletoe comes from two Anglo-Saxon words: "Mistel" meaning dung and "tan" which is a word for twig. So, mistletoe means "dung-on-a-twig." This name came about when early botanists observed mistletoe would often appear on a branch or twig where birds had left droppings.
And this is how mistletoes are spread: A bird (like this immature Buzzing Flowerpecker) eats the very sticky berry fruits of the mistletoe and then poops and wipes it off another branch. This flowerpecker, by the way is a common, widespread Philippine endemic found in most islands except Palawan.
Next week: another bird showing this interesting behavior. Happy birding!
**Update: Check the rest of this series here:
Part 2: Pygmy Flowerpecker
Part 3: Fire-breasted FlowerpeckerBuzzing Flowerpecker (immature), Dicaeum hypoleucum
July 2010, Mt. Polis, the Cordilleras, Northern Luzon, Philippines
Do we have hummingbirds in the Philippines?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions during our guided bird walks for the non-birder public. And to this we enthusiastically reply that what we have are sunbirds, feathered friends that are almost the same size, same diet, same habits and as equally charming as the hummingbirds from the Americas.
In fact, The Philippines has 12 kinds of sunbirds, 7 of which are endemic or found only in our country. They live in a wide array of habitats, among them the most common, garden-bird Olive-backed Sunbird, the mangrove-dwelling Copper-throated Sunbird from Palawan, the localized and high-elevation Apo Sunbird from Mindanao and this lowland forest-dwelling Handsome Sunbird from PICOP, Bislig, Surigao del Sur, Mindanao, among others.
The Handsome Sunbird is one of the smallest sunbirds in the Philippines and ranges in most Philippine islands except Palawan where it is replaced by the similarly-looking Lovely Sunbird. The sunbird featured here belongs to the bella race and can be seen frequenting flowering and fruiting trees in forest and forest edge, feeding on nectar and sometimes small insects.
Handsome Sunbird, Aethopyga bella
January 2011, PICOP Forest, Surigao del Sur, Mindanao Philippines
Here is a video of an adult and an immature Mountain Shrike from Mt. Polis in the Cordilleras of Northern Luzon, Philippines.
The Mountain Shrike (or Grey-capped Shrike) is an uncommon endemic found only in the islands of Luzon, Mindoro and Mindanao. It inhabits montane forests, usually perched conspicuously in clearings and forest edge above 1000 meters. Like most shrikes, it is very aggressive and has been observed impaling its prey on thorny bushes.
The adult bird was videoed November 2010 while the immature bird was videoed July.
Mountain Shrike, Lanius validirostris
July and November 2010
Here is a video of an Ashy Drongo that Nicky videoscoped from Makiling a few months back. This is the subspecies leucogenis, a rare migrant to the Philippines, with just one other report a few years back in the local bird club's records. Incidentally, the previous sighting was also from the lowland forests of Mt. Makiling, Laguna. The other race leucophaeus shown below the video ranges only in Palawan where it is a common bird, often found in exposed perches. What big difference in terms of plumage! Possible split? 🙂
Ashy Drongo, Dicrurus leucophaeus leucogenis
Mt. Makiling, Laguna, Luzon, Philippines
Ashy Drongo, Dicrurus leucophaeus leucophaeus
Coron, Busuanga Island, Palawan, Philippines
