Birds in your garden

[overherebc]

2 hours ago, overherebc said:

Just been watching a lovely little bird feeding on the flowers in the front garden. Yellow chest and a blue ring around it's neck. Small and slim but not as small as a humming bird and way smaller than anything I've seen before.

No idea what it is.

Too fast to photograph.

Very like this photo

[Carib]

6 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Very like this photo

Maybe one of the sunbird types..

 

http://www.pbase.com/peterericsson/brownthroated_sunbird

 

http://www.pbase.com/peterericsson/sunbirds_and_flowerpeckers

Edited July 25, 2017 by Carib

[thetefldon]

12 hours ago, overherebc said:

Just been watching a lovely little bird feeding on the flowers in the front garden. Yellow chest and a blue ring around it's neck. Small and slim but not as small as a humming bird and way smaller than anything I've seen before.

No idea what it is.

Too fast to photograph.

Might also be Olive-backed Sunbird(Male)

[Speedo1968]

16 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

Without a pic, impossible for us to ID with certainty. That said...your description narrows it down considerably...

 

...'larger than the normal' would indicate possible Black-collared Starling and they are common, BUT have a distinct black collar (which wasn't mentioned in your description), thus the name.

 

...'brilliant white head, neck'  +  your location would indicate possible Vinous-breasted Starling. Based on the range map in "The guide to the Birds of Thailand", your location doesn't rule out this species.

 

The latter is my guess based on your description. Perhaps Google Image Search these 2 species to be sure...and let us know.

Many thanks 'Skeptic7' for the information.

Could you advise me of the best web sites to look at regarding bird species in Thailand ?    

 

Although not an avid bird watcher I have always been interested in wild life in general.   This is because I have been involved in farming since I was 15 back in 1960.    To me what is in nature around you, whether it be the weather, wild life etc is there to be read for what is happening now or will / may happen tomorrow or in the future.

 

When I mentioned the bird was well built it had the general shape, stance, body language and walk of a myna ( ? ) but just bigger.

Also locally, I have seen on a couple of occasions at the same time each year in exactly the same place, two different mynas ( ? ) one with a yellow head and neck the other with a yellow head only.    Both birds were well built not like some of the scrawny looking birds I have seen in pictures.  I would guess they are related ?  

 

Oh, regarding the budgie, it now flies in with its friend the sparrow but has flown out again and returned with what looks like a female budgie in shape size etc but without much colouring.

 

Will certainly come back to you once I have possibly confirmed the birds identity.

[Skeptic7]

3 hours ago, Speedo1968 said:

Many thanks 'Skeptic7' for the information.

Could you advise me of the best web sites to look at regarding bird species in Thailand ?    

 

Although not an avid bird watcher I have always been interested in wild life in general.   This is because I have been involved in farming since I was 15 back in 1960.    To me what is in nature around you, whether it be the weather, wild life etc is there to be read for what is happening now or will / may happen tomorrow or in the future.

 

When I mentioned the bird was well built it had the general shape, stance, body language and walk of a myna ( ? ) but just bigger.

Also locally, I have seen on a couple of occasions at the same time each year in exactly the same place, two different mynas ( ? ) one with a yellow head and neck the other with a yellow head only.    Both birds were well built not like some of the scrawny looking birds I have seen in pictures.  I would guess they are related ?  

 

Oh, regarding the budgie, it now flies in with its friend the sparrow but has flown out again and returned with what looks like a female budgie in shape size etc but without much colouring.

 

Will certainly come back to you once I have possibly confirmed the birds identity.

Before web site, of which there are many excellent ones, would encourage obtaining 2 Field Guides. Go back to post 34 of this thread (page 3) and you will find the names and pics of these guides. 

 

Web sites are fine if one has a general idea of which species to search out, but field guides are always at the ready, handy, portable and precise...and provide a easy and comprehensive learning experience with species range maps too. 

 

If getting one or both of these books is not an option, then either Google the species common name or a general search...such as, mynas Thailand. Or sunbirds in Thailand. I use this method for moths and butterflies, but it can be tedious and time consuming.

 

Chok dee and happy birding! 

[Bredbury Blue]

Came back from my trip overseas Thursday to find these chicks had gone, due to the size of them we think they'd fledged and gone. Here's the last video taken by my wife. The wife reckoned she saw 3 adult birds together (all feeding the chicks?).

 

 

 

Just heard a big commotion in the mango tree at the back of the house (away from the other two nests we've had) and saw it was 2 yellow-vented bulbuls defending successfully there territory/nest(?) against a mynha bird. 

LINE_MOVIE_1501311354153.mp4

[BLACKJACK2]

My wife found this in the garden.

He's coming along fine, looks like he's going to be an Oriental Magpie Robin.

[Skeptic7]

Great pix! But looks like a Common Myna 

[BLACKJACK2]

2 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

Great pix! But looks like a Common Myna 

You might be right, he's come on loads in the last couple of days.

Can't wait till he has flown off now, gone from wanting feeding every hour to every 10 minutes.

[jak2002003]

16 hours ago, BLACKJACK2 said:

You might be right, he's come on loads in the last couple of days.

Can't wait till he has flown off now, gone from wanting feeding every hour to every 10 minutes.

He will be eating on his own in about another week.  He will make a great pet if you keep him.. and they can learn to talk really well.  If you want to release him make sure you teach him to be scared of people and dogs / cats etc.. otherwise he will have a short life!

[AjarnNorth]

Are Common Myna's talkers? Hill Myna's certainly are, but not sure about common or white-vented. Though I am not a fan of birds as pets regardless. Birds are meant to fly. 

[AjarnNorth]

 

First flycatcher of the season here in Bangsaen, Chonburi. Not a great ID photo, but I'd already ID'd it with good looks via bins. Female yellow-rumped Flycatcher. Yellow-rumped FCs are passage migrants as opposed to winter visitors, so not so common to see. I had males and females in Surin one year, and a male here in Chonburi a few years ago, so this only my third... if memory serves... the more common winter visiting flycatcher species ought to be along any day now.

 

 

[jak2002003]

2 hours ago, AjarnNorth said:

Are Common Myna's talkers? Hill Myna's certainly are, but not sure about common or white-vented. Though I am not a fan of birds as pets regardless. Birds are meant to fly. 

Not my chickens or ducks.... they are too fat!

 

You can let him fly... in your house, or in an aviary... he probably will fly around you garden and come back to you when you call him to feed him... but I would not leave him loose all the time as he will be tame a fly to other people who might think he is attacking them and kill him.

 

Yes, they can talk fine, and learn to whistle or copy mobile phone ring tones.  I used to have a white vented myna as a pet, which I rescued when I found it in the middle of the road at night with a broken leg.  He could speak Thai, English and knew a lot of bad Thai swear words.. which always got my Thai guests laughing!  

[BLACKJACK2]

It'll fly off when it's ready i'm not going to cage it. Our garden is about 2 rai so plenty of room for it to live and surrounded by farm land.

[jak2002003]

7 minutes ago, BLACKJACK2 said:

It'll fly off when it's ready i'm not going to cage it. Our garden is about 2 rai so plenty of room for it to live and surrounded by farm land.

That sound ideal for it.  I can learn to be a wild bird form the wild ones coming into you garden... perhaps leave out some fruit or bird pellets for it to eat at first until its used to finding its own food. 

[Skeptic7]

Sunbird ID: Olive-backed vs Brown-throated

 

While E-Z to distinguish between male Olive-backed & Brown-throated sunbirds...not so much with the females when only a quick look is afforded. Since Olive-backed Sunbird is the most common SB in Thailand, it's E-Z to overlook a female B-T and dismiss it as an O-B where the 2 overlap...which would be the entire B-T range! Pix 1-5 below show the males...while the remaining pix show the females. 

 

B-T is a noticeably larger bird (both m&f)...with a thicker, straighter bill, no white in the tail and much lighter colored legs. More subtle diffs in females, which can be seen in the pix below are the obvious yellow "spectacles" in B-T...while O-B may or may not show a faint yellow supercilium (eyebrow). Perhaps the most "obvious" subtle difference is eye color. O-B have dark eyes, while B-T have RED. So obvious with modern digital zoom cameras and editing software, though not reliable in the field do to tiny size and hyperactivity. 

 

(All pix were taken in my "yard" in BKK. Apologies for small sizes of B-T. Editing was done on my phone. Enlarge the female B-T to see the red eyes! The last pic...in flight...was used to clearly show the white in the tail. Is also noticeable in the very first pic on the male O-B)

 

Males...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the females...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2017 by Skeptic7

[Skeptic7]

Silly but having just re-read my previous post, noticed a coup!e rather minor, but glaringly HUGE to me, errors that everyone else surely couldn't care less about, but I need to fix.  Even though the post was done on the fly and on my phone, still cannot abide making mistakes. Obviously "do to" should be "due to" and white can clearly be seen in the tail of both the first 2 pix, not just the very first. Thx! 

Edited September 23, 2017 by Skeptic7

[faraday]

However, thanks for posting the pics.

 

 

[AjarnNorth]

Asian Brown Shrike have arrrived in Chonburi today.

[Bredbury Blue]

On 8/28/2017 at 4:52 PM, BLACKJACK2 said:

You might be right, he's come on loads in the last couple of days.

Can't wait till he has flown off now, gone from wanting feeding every hour to every 10 minutes.

 

What are you feeding it with and how often (for future reference)?

[Skeptic7]

Male B-T Sunbird posed briefly in the distance this morning and managed a couple fairly decent snaps...

 

 

[BLACKJACK2]

On Monday, September 25, 2017 at 7:25 AM, Bredbury Blue said:

 

What are you feeding it with and how often (for future reference)?

Fed it Myna bird food soaked in water then mealworm when it was bigger. Wanted feeding all the time it told you when it was hungry,  wouldn't shut up.

[faraday]

6 minutes ago, BLACKJACK2 said:

Fed it Myna bird food soaked in water then mealworm when it was bigger. Wanted feeding all the time it told you when it was hungry,  wouldn't shut up.

Female Myna obviously.

[Skeptic7]

Well the Scaly-breasted Munias successfully fledged another brood of at least 4...possibly 6...again from the cactus on our lanai. Observed some interesting bird behavior of which was not previously aware. Munia fledglings will return to the nest to roost!

 

This behavior is not the case with N American species such as Bluebirds, Titmice, Chickadees and a few others with which am very familiar. Doing some research since observing this phenomenon...though rare, is not unheard of. 

[Skeptic7]

Saw my first migrant in the yard this morning and even better, it's also an addition to the list.

Eastern Crowned Warbler #63

[Skeptic7]

Coolish early today and overcoat w/light fog here in BKK...and BIRDY. All the usual suspects in unusual abundance. Plain-backed Sparrows have returned after their normal summer disappearing act from the yard. Notables so far...Brown Shrike, Asian Brown Flycatcher and most notable of all #64 Arctic Warbler! 

 

Also just now heard and saw about a half dozen Blue-tailed Bee-eaters which will remain and entertain us with their aerial acrobatics through the cool season.

 

Quieting down now, so maybe be able to get to my coffee while it's hot without missing anything. 

[Bredbury Blue]

On my travels to and from Saigon, I pass only one roadside shop which sells birds for eating. It always saddens me to see that Vietnamese catch and eat these lovely birds (Vietnamese seem to eat everything which I why I rarely see/hear birds around in this area of Vietnam); Thais don’t catch/eat them. My Vietnamese colleagues were shocked we don't eat them in Thailand.

 

I love it when we get the these birds in our garden (one walked past me about 1m away the other week, don’t know if it had a eyesight problem or not - it had a broken lower beak so could have been in an accident) – we get so many in the fields around our area.

 

[apologies for the quality of photos - TV seems to have put a 100kb restriction on uploads]

 

 

 

 

 

[Skeptic7]

Brown-throated Sunbird last month...

 

 

 

[Skeptic7]

Above pix appear washed out here and not vivid at all. TV is having issues with image uploading. To see the pix in their true splendor, left click on the pic and it will open in a new window...then left click again when your cursor turns into a magnifying glass with (+) inside. Big difference! 

Edited October 28, 2017 by Skeptic7

[Skeptic7]

HELLO...Hello...hello. Is there anybody out there?

 

Or is the thread dead???

 

Red-whiskered Bulbul again today. Also Ashy Drongo & Black-naped Oriole.