AjarnNorth

Regarding Black Drongos:

As I have said in many threads before, "The Birds of the Bangkok Area" by Philip Round gives information that is not included in other books, especially as it relates to status, range (world-wide) and seasonality. If you can find it, get it.

While Black Drongo are resident and year-round in some areas of Thailand, they are far outnumbered by winter visitors. This is true in the north as well as the south. When I lived in Surin, I would only occasionally see one between April and September. By late September to early October they were everywhere. Mostly gone again by end of April, along with most of the other winter visitors. I now live in Chonburi and it's the same here.

So tefldon, you may occasionally see one between Late April and mid September (resident thai), but they (wintering cathoecus) will be back in numbers by late September. In the mean time, they will be north through China.

Does anyone know where my Black Drongos disappear too between end of March and September.
The birds that turn up in September are juveniles(speckled chest).

There are still a few "resident" birds here
but the majority have now departed.

Have you seen them[emoji57]

Location just North of Phetchabun.

I'm no expert on Black Drongos, but am familiar with breeding habits, territories and sighting frequencies of birds in the USA.

Assuming since the birds are year-round residents in your area that they are staking out breeding territories and spreading out. Fewer of them around and the females are not seen nearly as frequently as they are tending to nest/eggs/young while remaining inconspicuous.

Thanks that certainly sounds feasible.

I should add that in September the birds arrive in large groups and appear to hang around in the area. Beginning of April they have all gone save for an odd lone straggler.

I wondered if the birds do in fact migrate arriving here at the start of the cooler weather and leaving when it gets hot?

Black Drongos are common permanent residents from the extreme northern peninsula upwards throughout the rest of the Kingdom.

Quoting directly on Drongo sp. from A Guide To The Birds Of Thailand...'found mostly in pairs when territorial, but sometimes in flocks in winter or when on migration.' And specifically on Black Drongo...'often roosts communally in large numbers.'

Range map of Black Drongo from the Philip Round book mentioned above. Pink shading indicates Resident, while blue is Winter Visitor.

The snare I have, by the way, was not made by me but by the local snake catcher you can call. After his second visit in a week or so, I guess he thought I should have one of my own and dropped it off the following day. It serves, but your design is better.

I like the water monitor!

Most of the time I am alone to catch the snakes (GF fears) then not so many pics. I will try to make a cam support to make videos of the hunt

My wife is a trooper and will usually get me my camera while I am catching something. I took most of these pics after she handed me the camera. The monitors are fine and don't bother me, but my area is quickly being built up and with the amount of building, traffic, construction, and dogs, including my two, it's better for them if they are taken somewhere wooded where they might survive.

As far as i know, there are no confirmed records of Green Iora other than in the south. (Does anyone have different info on that?) Usual guide books all have it for South only and Philip Round's "Birds of the Bangkok Area" which covers most of Central Thailand doesn't list Green as having been recorded there.

Any thoughts-Green or Common Iora?

Pretty bird sitting a few feet away from me in the big tree in my garden while I was having a cup of tea on the upstairs terrace.

Common, I am pretty sure. What province do you live in?

Nice design and instructions! My kit isn't as fancy but gets the job done. Attached are a few of the critters caught in my yard - one of four reticulated pythons, one of two cobras (the one here is a monocled cobra), one copperhead racer (harmless but aggressive), and one water monitor. All relocated to wooded areas.

I've never kept a garden list. I live in Buriram on the edge of extensive rice paddies on two sides of my garden, with a wooded temple compound on the third side, and village houses on the fourth. Every morning I take the dog(s) for a walk lasting about two hours, and in 8 years, I have recorded 170 species in this area.

I tried whittling that down to birds I had actually seen in or from the garden, and got a total of about 75 species.

Why not post the list, IB? May give those in Isaan some inspiration to document their own gardens, give them an idea of what they might look out for and put an end to the myth that there are no birds in Isaan because "they've all been eaten." My Surin Yard list is longer than my Chonburi one and was done in half the time. I will post it soon.

I used to specialise in photos of 'Hardbills' in the UK.

From what I can see a lot of these birds are probably 'Softbills'.

My favourite species for photos in the UK were Bullfinches, Goldfinches, Siskins etc. These are all Hard bills (seed eaters) whereas the likes of Robins, Thrushes etc., are Soft Bills (Berry eaters)

Are there any birds here that are similar to our UK Hard bills ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Thailand

Great idea, i'm going to start my list.

We have loads of birds in the garden but i did not think there were many different species, after seeing the other lists it will be interesting to find out.

Can anyone recommend a camera/lens for photographing them.

If you're just looking to photo birds but don't want to take on the monumental task of learning about photography and lenses and etc. then look to the fixed lens superzoom cameras. I use a fuji HS35. Make sure you get the manual zoom. Affordable, nothing to learn. I keep mine on auto almost constantly. And if i drop it in a stream or flip in a kayak, they're only about 12000 baht. If you want Nat. Geo quality, then prepare to spend a lot of money. If you just want good clear shots of birds and a good camera you can use for multiple purposes, i highly recommend the Fuji or other fixed lens superzooms. All the photo buffs will say I am wrong.

The wife took this photo (with iphone) of an owl in our garden wall (khlong, trees, fishfields behind the wall). What type of owl is it, and is it adult or juvenile?

IMG_2238.JPG

Collared scops Owl.

Is it a native or visitor to Thailand? I ask as i couldn't find much about it and Thailand on the web, but i know the local collectors around me keep them (my barber 200 m for example keeps them and eagles) so was wondering was an escapee (wouldn't be the first escapee in my garden).

They are resident. Their call is a soft "pooh" which they will repeat at 12 second intervals. They nest in holes in trees. I had two just next to my house which I assumed were nesting and possibly raising young but suddenly disappeared, though I still hear them. Probably their nest was raided by a monitor lizard.

The wife took this photo (with iphone) of an owl in our garden wall (khlong, trees, fishfields behind the wall). What type of owl is it, and is it adult or juvenile?

IMG_2238.JPG

Collared scops Owl.

Dead bird is a Siberian Thrush - I seem to remember Isanbirder already makingt that ID in another thread. The first pic of Storks looks like mostly Openbill Storks with possibly a few Painted Storks. The Coucal is a Greater.

That's correct on the Siberian Thrush.

How to tell the difference between Greater and Lesser Coucal?

Lesser have buffish streaks on their bodies that are quite visible. But they are also generally much more skulking and tend to stay in high grass or reeds near water. If it's hopping around your garden fully exposed, you can pretty much peg it as a Greater.

had these two a while back .... not sure what name ..

IMG_20150213_091848.JPGIMG_20150213_091855.JPG

Black-naped Oriole (with the slight possibility that they are Slender-billed Oriole,but the pics are not clear enough to say so I would stick with Black-naped). They are winter visitors.

we get very brave collared dove types which aren't bothered by me

We get those little gray birds, not afraid they walk around on the ground and have accidently nearly stepped on one on several occasions

Zebra Dove most probably. Sometimes they're referred to as Peaceful Doves.

They're common in Buriram all year round. At this time of year they're nesting. I hear their distinctive call every day.... hoo..hoo, two, three or four notes.

I haven't seen them for a bit but I can hear them, mostly in the morning I think.

I think you guys might be mistaking that bird call for the brown and black "turkey bird", thats the one that makes the distinctive hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo. (IMO, no offense intended).

By brown and black "turkey bird" I am guessing you mean Greater Coucal. The Hoopoe and the Greater Coucal are both resident to Thailand and pretty common througout most of the country. The calls are quite different (IB knows the difference). You can listen to both on youtube or one of the better bird call sites. I saw them nearly ever day when I lived in Surin and I see them almost as often in Chonburi. Same goes for the Coucal.

High pitched double call and quite fast could be greenshank. Listen to this link and see if it's a match.

Hopefully this captive breed and release is successful. Would love to see a one soar over and up my BKK yard list by one more. Yard list total currently stands at 39 species!

Great work and good news for a change!

Should start a yard list thread. I lived four years on a wetlands in Surin and had a telescope! Never put a yard list together but could. I now live in Bangsaen, Chonburi. I go out around the area birding often, yet nearly all of the interesting sightings I have had here have come from my yard!

On the cranes, it will be interesting. Surely Bang Phra Reservoir (Chonburi) must be on the list of possible locations to free them. I have seen Lesser Adjutant and Black-headed Ibis there as well as lots of SB Peilican, but probably many of them are escvapes from the local zoo (Khao Khieo) or the local "breeding center."

The breeding center is strange since half the birds in there are not even Thai birds. Not at all clear to me why they would be breeding these species unless it's to make money???

sometime

Looks like a yellow-vented bulbul.

Yep! Yellow-vented for sure. I checked my Streak-eared nest that i posted above this morning and both eggs are gone. Snake, no doubt. Oh well, it's a jungle out there.

Is there anyone doing any birding in the Pattaya area?.... would love to get out and see more.

I am in Bangsaen. I do most of my birding locally but occasionally get out to Bang Phra Reservoir (non-hunting area) and sometimes Khao Kieo. I could meet you out that way some day. Probably about 40 minute drive for you. You can take the 7 or Suk.