Birds in your garden

[Speedo1968]

Thanks AjarnNorth, apologies for delay in replying.

Crows - guess the crow thing is a bit of 'twisted logic" on my part.

Today late departure crows, 5.45pm flew much lower over the park, in Winter they can be seen on their way to roost from about 3.30pm

The last few days I have been watching what I think are pigeons flying higher and in tighter formation than the crows.    Thought crows sometimes mobbed other birds.

 

Sparrows - they are in a narrow soi near to temple grounds.  They come down to eat opposite a local open fronted shop.    See them every day.   Yes, probably Tree Sparrows.   Many young ones that seem to have paler feathers.  There are 2 birds that have definite white feathers covering their head and neck, not moulted or mites.

In the garden areas where I live see both hedge and tree sparrows, the young seem to have lighter coloured feathers, others are dark brown backed.
Also I have a budgie ( parrot ? ) that joins in with others eating rice that I put down in front of my house.   When it first started visiting it seemed to have bonded with a particular sparrow, always together, then the sparrow must have disappeared and the budgie came alone.

 

Hoopoe - yes always saw them here in Winter season, only seen one here this year, perhaps it is confused by the climate being hot.    I worked in farming in Saudi, used to see them there.

 

Yellow head / neck Myna - I do not think these were in moult / mites etc.  From my work in farming since the 1960's I think that the yellow colouring was a genetic fault.  The first year I saw them there was only which was skittish and flew off, the second year two birds but again skittish, the third year two birds about 10 metres away in a buffalo field, the fourth year saw more coloured birds in two different areas about 300 – 500 metres from the original siting.   This year the original bird disappeared after the flooding.

 

Haven’t heard any woodpeckers this year, guess there are too many trees being cut down – often for no reason.     Could also be a reason for less hoopoes.

 

Kingfisher, I saw only twice when passing by on a bike ( me not the kingfisher on a bike ).   It didn’t fly off as I passed by.  Not seen again since that time.    Size larger than the swallows that I am seeing this time of year.

 

Mist – netting, haven’t seen for the past two years since I kept pulling down the bamboo poles and net.    I hadn’t thought about them eating particular birds caught in the net, but in hindsight the birds were so entangled it would have been impossible to get them out to be any use for singing.   I can only imagine how they got them out ..  Since that time I have heard no more owls on my early morning walks, before they used to fly overhead and call.

As for taking photos of the cages people have been using obviously for song birds; the people stay within sight of the cages which are placed about 4 – 5pm, and never leave them overnight.   I don’t think I would be very popular if I asked / or didn’t ask for a photo.

 

The flooding came at a time when various types of grasses were starting to grow.  In an area near two rain filled ponds following the flooding there is now a very dominant type of grass which has less seeds, the leaves are like razor grass and seeds very thin and stick in clothing.  I would think the seeds to be of less value to the birds.

[JohnB1945]

Does anyone know what this bird is? It appeared in our garden a few weeks ago, and spends its time 50:50 in our garden and our neighbours? I have looked in "Birds of Thailand" and cannot see anything similar. It is fairly tame - you can go within half a metre of it. It seems to eat insects in the grass, an occasional bite of banana, and cooked rice. It was quite noisy at first but has calmed down now. I am worried that our cats get it - there have been near misses already. 

 

I am wondering if it is an escaped caged bird, not indigenous to Thailand. 

 

[jak2002003]

2 hours ago, John Begg said:

Does anyone know what this bird is? It appeared in our garden a few weeks ago, and spends its time 50:50 in our garden and our neighbours? I have looked in "Birds of Thailand" and cannot see anything similar. It is fairly tame - you can go within half a metre of it. It seems to eat insects in the grass, an occasional bite of banana, and cooked rice. It was quite noisy at first but has calmed down now. I am worried that our cats get it - there have been near misses already. 

 

I am wondering if it is an escaped caged bird, not indigenous to Thailand. 

 

That is a white crested laughing thrush... which is indeed native to Thailand and quite common in the forests.  

 

If this one is quite tame and because it's alone I suspect it is an escaped pet, because in the wild they are found in flocks of several family individuals and are very shy of people, often being heard rather than seen.

 

Because of their calls and looks they are often trapped illegally (usually when young) and tamed to be kept as pets.

 

I hope this one quickly learns to fear humans (and cats) and can get back to it's wild life and find some others of it's kind to team up with.  I would not mind them keeping common wild birds as pets if they cared for them properly in a big aviary... but most of them are kept in isolation in tiny wooden cages with a banana and rice to eat and that's their life.  

 

If it is very tame and approaches you, you could catch it and take it to a wildlife rehabilitation center or a good zoo / rescue place.

 

 

[JohnB1945]

Thanks for the reply! 

[JohnB1945]

Further to this: we live about 15 km from Khao Yai National Park, and I see that there are White Crested Laughing Thrushes in the park (according to their website). So if we can catch it we could take it there; but a big "if" as it is not that tame.  

[Skeptic7]

7 hours ago, John Begg said:

Further to this: we live about 15 km from Khao Yai National Park, and I see that there are White Crested Laughing Thrushes in the park (according to their website). So if we can catch it we could take it there; but a big "if" as it is not that tame.  

I understand the desire to "help", but it doesn't seem in distress, starving, injured or in danger. You said it's eating. I'd leave it be. This species is not endangered or threatened and is listed as "least concern". 

 

IMO capturing (or trying to capture) the bird will surely be more stressful for both the bird...AND you! ???? 

[Skeptic7]

Been sitting on this bird and these pix since the end of July. Forgot about them for a bit and then finally got back to them. The bird was quite high up the hillside behind our house. Figured it for Bronzed Drongo and got some confirmation recently from a couple different sources. Wanted to be sure as not only is this #68 for the Kanchanaburi patch...but #700 on my World List! 

 

 

 

[Skeptic7]

Finally added Rufous Treepie to my list(s). Also, Himalayan Swiftlet and Black-winged Stilt to bring Kanchanaburi patch list to 71.

[AjarnNorth]

I have had two additions to my Bangsaen yard list (both by call) which I think brings it to 91 (have to check). Indian Nightjar and Large-tailed Nightjar. Both within a week or so of one another, the large tailed still heard regularly. I haven't seen them yet because they are hard to spot and quiet during the day and only call at night, though I have seen both just a kilometer or so away. Their recent arrival on my soi is due to forested land being razed and cleared for future building, which is the habitat they tend to. Likely my yard list here won't go much higher as it looks as if i will be relocating to Chiang Mai in 2020 and starting a new yard list from scratch. 

Edited December 10, 2019 by AjarnNorth

[Skeptic7]

Hoopoe #72 day before yesterday 

[Skeptic7]

13 hours ago, AjarnNorth said:

relocating to Chiang Mai in 2020 and starting a new yard list

Always fun starting a new list. Every bird is like seeing it all over again...for the very first time! Haha

 

Chiang Mai...alot of good birds up there. 

[jak2002003]

16 hours ago, AjarnNorth said:

I have had two additions to my Bangsaen yard list (both by call) which I think brings it to 91 (have to check). Indian Nightjar and Large-tailed Nightjar. Both within a week or so of one another, the large tailed still heard regularly. I haven't seen them yet because they are hard to spot and quiet during the day and only call at night, though I have seen both just a kilometer or so away. Their recent arrival on my soi is due to forested land being razed and cleared for future building, which is the habitat they tend to. Likely my yard list here won't go much higher as it looks as if i will be relocating to Chiang Mai in 2020 and starting a new yard list from scratch. 

I am in Chiang Mai too.  You will be interested to see the different birds we have up here.

 

Doi Suthep is very close and easy to get to, and has a lot of forest, and it's interesting the different bird species there, particularly at the higher elevations where there are pine forests and evergreen rain forest. 

[Skeptic7]

Hair-crested Drongo #73

 

 

 

[Skeptic7]

Finally managed decent snaps of Racket-tailed Treepie, Rufous Treepie and White-throated Kingfisher. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AjarnNorth]

Got lucky this Christmas morning. While photoing a "Dusky Warbler" in my yard (not a new yard bird) I suddenly had this Black Baza land just above me and was able to get exactly one photo off before it was gone. #93 for the Bangsaen yard list, pending a recount as I lost a lot of information and notes in a recent computer crash which means I have to use this forum to recount! The Baza and warbler below. 

 

EDIT: I was dubious on the Dusky ID so posted it on the LBJ Thailand facebook site for input. It was too large by my estimation. Mike Rose helped me out - Thick Billed - which I was very familiar with when i lived in Isaan years ago but had fallen off my radar and i think adds another bird to my yard list!

 

Edited December 25, 2019 by AjarnNorth
Incorrect Warbler ID

[sharecropper]

We used to have a flock of sparrows visit our balcony to eat the food we leave for Mynah birds. Suddenly they disappeared. Today we discovered why......

 

[Skeptic7]

2 hours ago, sharecropper said:

We used to have a flock of sparrows visit our balcony to eat the food we leave for Mynah birds. Suddenly they disappeared. Today we discovered why......

 

NICE! Peregrine Falcon

[AjarnNorth]

On 12/11/2019 at 10:48 AM, jak2002003 said:

I am in Chiang Mai too.  You will be interested to see the different birds we have up here.

 

Doi Suthep is very close and easy to get to, and has a lot of forest, and it's interesting the different bird species there, particularly at the higher elevations where there are pine forests and evergreen rain forest. 

Been up there many times over the years but never done any serious birding. However, was up early in December and did go up Suthep. Blue-winged Leafbird, one of the darkest Dark-sided Flycatchers i have ever seen, and one of the blue flycatchers that got away from me before a good look. Unfortunately, 4 days later i removed a tick from my stomach (either from Suthep or my hotel) that by the following day was showing a radiating rash that grew with each passing day. Cot to a shot in the ass and 20 days of antibiotics later and it still is present with negative lab results. I know this was just unlucky and have been birding n Thailand for well over 10 years and never had a problem - so not at all Chiang mai specific - but it's a wake up call. Three out of four doctors essentially told me there are no tick-borne pathogens in Thailand. Apparetnly their google is broken and they never read the research out of Mahidol University published in 2008. So yes, looking forward to ticking some new species in and around CM... but offering this story up as a cautionary tale. When you get back from a day out, have a good look at the body. It's likely some kind of rickettsial pathogen, but that it isn't fully gone after so much treatment is getting a bit worrisome. 

[jak2002003]

5 hours ago, sharecropper said:

We used to have a flock of sparrows visit our balcony to eat the food we leave for Mynah birds. Suddenly they disappeared. Today we discovered why......

 

Wow.  That is a bit more impressive than a sparrow.  

 

Perhaps you can leave out some chicken legs for it....

 

Seriously though, I doubt it has eaten all the sparrows that visited your place.  They have more than likely moved on to avoid the hawk, and will come back when the hawk moves on.  

[sharecropper]

16 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

Wow.  That is a bit more impressive than a sparrow.  

 

Perhaps you can leave out some chicken legs for it....

 

Seriously though, I doubt it has eaten all the sparrows that visited your place.  They have more than likely moved on to avoid the hawk, and will come back when the hawk moves on.  

You may be right, There two of them and they stay for months, living on a mostly-unoccupied part of an opposite condo building. This one seems to like sparrows, the other, a much larger female, is the terror of the pigeon community. 

Edited January 2, 2020 by sharecropper

[jak2002003]

1 hour ago, sharecropper said:

You may be right, There two of them and they stay for months, living on a mostly-unoccupied part of an opposite condo building. This one seems to like sparrows, the other, a much larger female, is the terror of the pigeon community. 

They are very impressive.  Do they nest on that building?

[sharecropper]

29 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

They are very impressive.  Do they nest on that building?

I think they nest elsewhere, as we've never seen evidence of young birds, and they must have other hunting and roosting grounds. They arrive here around 6.30am most days and sometimes one or both will stay until dusk.

[Skeptic7]

5 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

They are very impressive.  Do they nest on that building?

Peregrines are highly migratory and are winter visitors in Thailand. Breeding range is much further north. Escapees from captive populations could be an exception.

[jak2002003]

1 hour ago, Skeptic7 said:

Peregrines are highly migratory and are winter visitors in Thailand. Breeding range is much further north. Escapees from captive populations could be an exception.

Thanks for that info.  

 

I did not know they migrated as a pair... kind of thought they only paired up in the breeding season.  I wonder if they pair for life in nature?

[Skeptic7]

57 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

Thanks for that info.  

 

I did not know they migrated as a pair... kind of thought they only paired up in the breeding season.  I wonder if they pair for life in nature?

That's an excellent point about the pair here in Winter that, as they are pretty much solitary outside of breeding. There are resident populations in some areas of the world that do not migrate, but did not think Thailand was included. Again...there may be some residents escapees that breed here and do not migrate.

[AjarnNorth]

3 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

That's an excellent point about the pair here in Winter that, as they are pretty much solitary outside of breeding. There are resident populations in some areas of the world that do not migrate, but did not think Thailand was included. Again...there may be some residents escapees that breed here and do not migrate.

The pair is a bit odd. I had them in Surin as winter visitors and here in Bangsaen, Chonburi as winter visitors, but always solo. Interesting in that the place I see them most here in Bangsaen is almost a dead match to the pics. Tending to the coast and always preferring high beach-side condo buildings such as picture here.  

[sharecropper]

These have been a pair for the past 2 years. They disappear for a few months in about March - August/September, then they return. Previously it was just the solitary male.

[Skeptic7]

Hoopoe calling off our lanai in BKK and searching for a possible nesting cavity in the soffit of the house behind us.

 

 

 

 

[Fuchs]

Hoopoes can be friendly birds, I had one try to feed me once.

[Skeptic7]

2 nights ago Collared Scops Owl calling out back here in BKK. Brings the yard list to 68