Local Hornbills.

[mervin]

Shot this male feeding the female and perhaps chicks inside the sealed up nest.

Oriental Pied Hornbill
Anthracoseros albirostris.

Canon 20D + 500f4

16Feb2007, 10003hrs, f8, 1/500, ISO 400, EV -1.3

[valice]

Wow!
Didn't know Singapore has hornbills! An escapee?

[ranmasatome]

Aiyo uncle... Pulau Ubin have liao... must be cooped up in the office too long ah??

[benny]

Good shot! I like the composition and also the fact that the subject is collecting berries.

Cheers,

[mervin]

thanks, there are actually quite a big population of them, just need to know where to look for them.

[XnSdVd]

We have edible berries?! Where is this place anyway?

[mervin]

We have edible berries?! Where is this place anyway?

yes we do have edible berries at least to birds !

sorry i really cannot reveal nesting sites or birders will hunt for me !!!

[XnSdVd]

lol, i wasn't suggesting you name their location. But rather, is this on the mainland? And if so, was this in a reserve or in a developed area? Beautiful birds by the way.

[valice]

By answering you all the questions you asked, isn;t it equivalent of telling you the loation? Hahaha...

[XnSdVd]

Not really, "In a reserve" or "In a developed area" doesn't say much about where the birds are. Just the environment they're in. I wasn't asking for "Toa Payoh, Dr 2 in the tree that's at the cross junction"

[bryan]

I remember this guys are rather big. Once when trekking in Berkelah Falls, one flew above us and decided to land on a dead tree. Mesmerized we crowded around the tree gaping at it. It probably had not been watching its diet as the next moment the tree gave way and we had to run for dear life.

[benny]

Yes, they are big. They can be found in HDB estate too. I remember seeing a photo of it resting on someone's aircon last year.

Cheers,

[budak]

The hornbills are an open secret in the birding community liao. I think at some point, there's no real point hushing them, given that they are such large, noisy and obvious birds.

Their presence and success in breeding simply dispels the false notion that Singapore has no nature of value and points rather than with some care, even these apex species can thrive close to man.

[mervin]

The hornbills are an open secret in the birding community liao. I think at some point, there's no real point hushing them, given that they are such large, noisy and obvious birds.

U are right that everyone knows of their presence and they are all over.

Even their nesting sites have been well documented, however the nest exact location is still rather hush hush. as with all other birds nesting sites.

[budak]

true, however 'nice' we may think people are, even folks we know, it's a sad fact that some people cannot resist despoiling nature. Think of last year's poor colugo, Mike's slipper orchids, and various itchy fingers who raid the nests of rare birds or use baits to trap them.

[celticfish]

just a point to ponder.
why the national parks board doesn't plant more trees with food value for native bird species?

and to answer myself - fruiting trees would increase maintanance and cost etc etc..

but i think that would be one avenue to ensure the future of the native species or migrant birds going north or south.

[XnSdVd]

To quote Prof Shaun Lum of Nature Society Singapore's response to the lack of native bird-friendly trees:
"Yeeah... i love rain trees as much as the next guy but... you know *shrugs*"

I guess it all comes down to incompetent leadership in the NEA or MOE. I can't get over the sight of secondary forest being cleared to make way for the Republic Polytechnic campus and then grassroots leaders coming in on "Clean and Green Week" to plant palm trees...