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Of “toky” calls and Coppersmith Barbets

on 9th February 2009

Been down quaint alleyways and watched tradesmen of sorts busy fashioning wares with their tampering tools skilfully?

Hear the rhythmic sounds of, ‘tok tok tok’ as the tinsmiths/coppersmiths’ hammers kissed their wares sorely hard?

That is precisely the loud and monotonous calls a Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala) would sound like from a distance to give itself away. Otherwise, the 17cm bird would be in obscurity when perched under tree canopy.

For a little bird adorned in feathered, giant yellow goggles and makes such big noises, certainly lives up to its name as the bird that sounds like a coppersmith tampering with his tools!

Let us meet Blowfish- the resident Coppersmith Barbet in my neighbourhood.

Blowfish wears a red bib edged with yellow, frilly trimmings. Its bib matches the bright colour of it’s forehead with contrasting black eye band and wears a huge yellow eye patch (above left).

Let’s zoom in on Blowfish’s throat and upper chest to observe the anatomical and mechanical aspects when it began a half-second per call musical repertoire on the same musical scale note (above middle and right: front and side view).

Blowfish was about 40 feet up the albizia (Paraserianthes falcataria) canopy tree top. I was 40 feet away from the same tree.

Nine sequential images are provided in continuous shoot mode and zoomed maximum for close examination of the bellowing throat and upper chest areas. All images were taken in one minute total. (above and below: left to right). They speak a thousand words.

Notice the throat sac inflating, peaks and eventually ‘loses steam’ while the ‘tok tok tok’ calls continued chasing at half a second from each other. A side view showing throat sac losing steam (below left).

The ‘love’ calls came to halt when the throat sac collapsed (above middle and right).

Blowfish went dumb.

Readers’ are most welcome to deliberate on the mechanical call aspects of Blowfish- the Coppersmith Barbet, mascot bird of my backyard under comment provided.

Join me again soon to take on a flight of adventure with Blowfish and discover the mission of its flight (left).

AVIAN WRITER DAISY O’NEILL PENANG MALAYSIA
© OF ‘TOKY’ CALLS AND COPPERSMITH BARBETS
All Images by digiscopy method. Optics used: Fieldscope ED82 + 30x + Coolpix P3

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

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