Birdwatch from home

While we enjoy the greenery around our neighbourhood, the birds enjoy singing on the trees.

Birdwatch from home was a rather tough challenge as I do not have any binoculars with me at home. So, even though I could hear many distinct bird calls, I could not locate the sound and spot the birds. Some birds glide past the window before I could catch a closer glimpse of it :”( .

Some bird calls I heard were Javan Mynah and the Male Asian Koel.

To fulfil my curiosity, I decided to have a walk around my neighbourhood park in the morning (to avoid the crowd) the next day. And yay I managed to locate some of the bird species that I heard the other day!!

I also managed to hear the Female Asian Koel (so I believe they were calling for each other🤭)

What I saw:

⁃ Javan mynah is a bird that is commonly found in Singapore. It can be easily found along the pathway, grass patch, or even at opened-space hawker centers.

⁃ originates from Java. Today, it can be commonly found in many SEA countries, India, and in neighbouring regions.

⁃ It is also considered as a pest in urban areas as they often leave their droppings around and are commonly associated with noise pollution. They are also capable of spreading zoonoses!!

⁃ They are omnivorous

⁃ They have an extremely liquid voice and incorporates imitation into its repertoire

https://www.beautyofbirds.com/javanmynas.html

⁃ Doves and pigeons belong to the same family (Columbidae). Some similarities they share are: thick and round bodies, short necks, and thin peaks. However, doves are generally of smaller stature.

⁃ feed mostly on bare ground and short grass.

⁃ often found on the ground in small flocks (When I found it, there were two of them and when I tried to approach them, none of them seems intimidated.🥺🥺)

⁃ have a distinctive, soothing call (it was a pity that I didn’t hear it irl)

⁃ habitat: open habitats like grasslands, reclaimed lands and urban areas

https://www.nparks.gov.sg/mygreenspace/issue-45-vol-2-2020/lifestyle/people-and-places/dove-vs-pigeon-what’s-the-difference

https://singaporebirds.com/species/zebra-dove/

⁃ vary in colour; often seen in flocks (walking, running on the ground, pecking for food)

⁃ habitat: cities and towns. They can also be seen around farmlands and fields

⁃ long wings and powerful flight muscles make them strong, swift fliers

https://www.britannica.com/animal/pigeon

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rock_Pigeon/id

4. House sparrow

(it was quite saddening for not being able to catch a glimpse of the Asian Koel even though I was very near to its location)

I think it is very important to have binoculars or a good quality camera (normal phone camera might also produce blurry pictures) if you want to have a rewarding 30minutes of birdwatching from home 🙂 !! It is also very important to do some simple research/read-ups on the common bird calls especially if you are trying birdwatch for the first time, or it would be hard to identify the bird species based on their calls.

Even though the process of identification was tedious, I still enjoyed myself because this activity had allowed me to interact with nature a little more. This activity also taught me to be more observant (something I lacked during this birdwatch) so that I would not misunderstand one species for the other.

I hope that after the Circuit Breaker, I could spend more time at the nature parks to discover more unique bird species 🙂

Lastly, I would also like to share this link which I got from my facilitator during the BFF challenge briefing. Search for any species of bird to check out their calls!!https://www.xeno-canto.org/explore?query=long%20tailed%20parakeet

Stay safe at home!!!