
While prospecting new birding sites for material opportunities to substantiate bird article writings, I came across a Malaysian kampong (village) in a rural area. It supports a small Malay community with traditional values, living the comforts of 20th Century semi-concrete jungles (left).
It was a delight to see a substantial species of healthy birds. Fruits and flowering trees abound and the environment provides a peaceful, safe haven for avian breeding. However, there was something strange about this village. My bird checklist shows the absence of two bird species that should and would normally be seen commonly in the wild, and in my part of the world – Malaysia.

The Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis) was no where to be seen (above left). Neither was smaller cousin, Zebra or Peaceful Dove (Geopelia striata) (above right).
Strolling further along the village path, I stumbled into what I would describe to be a small colony of feathered friends. It looked like all the Spotted and Peaceful Doves of the village have been rounded up to form a nuclear family – an ‘Alcatraz’ of spots and stripes to placate the human joy of keeping birds as house pets.

Let’s visit Spotty, the Spotted Dove and Zee the Peaceful Dove and be introduced to their inmates and listen to their conversation, to know what their avian world is like – to be restrained and caged (right).
“I’m bored, I’m bored!” cooed Spotty, swaying repeatedly from his opened Cell 102, of rattan and wood, suspended under the canopy of a matured, flowering star fruit (Averrhoa carambola) tree.
A reply came from Spotty’s closest neighbour Zee, also known as Zebra Dove from her rectangular Cell 101 (below left).
“Well, at least your cell is open-air and gives a feel of ‘freedom come’. Mine…? A wired looking coffin, I’ve resigned my fate too.”

“Besides, I have no cause to complain as our guardians top up our grain pots and we never have to worry nor go hungry. See? I’ve got two varieties of potted grains and a water tub. Erh…. a bit green, but ‘ok’ I suppose…” (above right).

Just then, the conversation was interrupted by rattling sounds coming from Cell 103. The owner, mad George Jr. – the adolescent Peaceful Dove was rattling his cage (left top). “I must fly! I must fly!” squeaked George Jr., flying restlessly in circles inside his rectangular cage and sheltered by a roof of recycled zinc sheet (left middle).
“I wanna be a man! I wanna be a man!” sang George Jr., standing up like a man and continued his frenzy, flying act (left bottom).
George Jr. reminded me of my youth days when the big circus claiming to be ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ came to town. One of the highlights was the ‘Flying cycles’.
A giant, hollow, rattan ball inside the enormous tent top was set up. The organisers had two motorbikes inside the ball. Two hell riders were sent into it and had them flying in circles, criss-crossing each other in their roaring machines, in deafening super speed.
Ah… I imagined those riders who took up such dare devilled assignments, must have in time, succumbed to brain death prior to collapsing into their coffins!
“That’s just George Jr. gone mad. Poor chap! Consumed by excessive levels of testosterone.” remarked Spotty in mid conversation.
He rolled his eyes at George Jr. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a new inmate’s cage under the next tree.
“And who are you, young child? How did you end up here?” asked Spotty.
“I am Pickle, the juvenile Zebra Dove.”

“I flew into a trap set underground and had my feet caught on those fish nettings. I thought I heard Mom calling me for breakfast. The next thing I knew, I was picked up by a pair of walking trousers who untangled me and brought me here,” she explained.
“Now, I don’t have to look for my food in the wild anymore nor be afraid of predators who hunt me down for their supper. It’s kind of good life here, like staying in a 4-star hotel room that comes with cleaning services and a room number too,” the naïve juvenile added (right).
“Ha! You mean Cell 104?” retorted Knobby, the Spotted Dove. Take a look at my left ankle. I’ve been shackled to this darn circular, see-through rattan dish labelled, ‘Cell 105’ and assigned sentry duties for life” (left).

“I get parked here in the dark, front-corner door entrance. I earn my keep having to look left, look front, look right and right again. It’s a twenty-four, seven job. I’ve lost my will to take on the ‘Great Escape’. Just get fat, perching and looking,” sighed Knobby (below).
“Well, at least you’re not looking like a pathetic candidate staggering out from ‘Schindler’s List.’ cooed a voice in unison from Cell 106. It was Herman and Hilda, a pair of Peaceful Doves housed in a large, metal cage roofed with an empty, polythene rice bag.

They were very much resigned to their cell even though their drinking vessel remained unchanged and greened with algae (below left).
“You haven’t got that Hulky feeling yet, you guys?” chirped Ernie, the lonely Peaceful Dove from his rotunda Cell 107 (below right).
“Oh, you saucy little fella! Just leave them alone.” came a deep voice from Cell 108.
“I know you…” the voice said.


“Ha! You were that ‘lover boy’. The one, who fell straight into a racket trap when those trappers strung Suzie up a bamboo pole to coo for a lover!” announced Liberace, the flamboyant Spotted Dove (below).
“Ok, ok you can’t keep secrets can you?” Ernie felt revealed.
“Now you know mine, how about you telling your secrets of how you got here, handsome boy? Surely it’s got to do with your good looks. Come on…… tell, tell!” coaxed Ernie.
Liberace just could not resist displaying his vanity. With his ‘diamond studded’ spots and matching furry, feathered coat, he was too keen to pose for photographers – those that came with huge bazooka-looking lens. They decided it was fun to flash the daylights out of him.

“The humiliating part was that those weirdoes with two walking legs were carrying three more skinny legs. Men and women turning into talking birds were walking up and down the lane, cooing from a machine planted in the palm of their hands, sending out sweet nothing. I was curious to see who those freaks were and responded to their call. I was desperate for a duet. To ‘add salt to my wounds’, they left hurriedly after their shoot, paid me nothing for all those fine adornment!” lamented the songbird.
“A bird trapper watched the performances. He decided to string up a mist net to get me for free too! I felt cheated and so ashamed. And to end my life, what the heck, I made a suicidal dash flight into the net” he added.
“I did not die… but found myself ended up in a pet shop, sold for fifty bucks!” he said tearfully.
“Oh! So sad… and I am sorry to hear that,” cooed Ernie, softly.
Every inmate in the colony went quiet and understood why Liberace’s cooing was always a melancholy tune – ‘wu-bwrroo…wu-bwrroo’.
A desperate guttural ‘coo’ yearned to be heard from the far end of the owner’s house. It was from CELL 109, George Sr. the Spotted Dove.
He has gone a bit hard of hearing; always having his back turned and looking towards the sunset. But, still has a little spunk left to squawk out his last three worded vocabulary repeatedly, day in, day out.

“Al dam bastards! Al dam bastards!” (left).
This last paragraph concludes to spare a thought for birds in captivity. It is a review of bird pet ownership and how caring birders and bird-photographers can further contribute to protection and ‘cushion’ birds in the wild.
At time of writing, the Spotted Dove and Peaceful Dove were not yet enlisted in the defunct, outdated ‘Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 of Malaysia.’
All images presented are mainly derived from digiscopy. Flash photography preferred not used.
SUBMITTED BY DAISY O’NEILL (Avian Writer), PENANG, MALAYSIA.
kris
I just found a young dollarbird in the garden.. It seems to have left the nest too early and cannot fly yet. How am i to keep and feed it for a few days untill it can fly.???
Raja
March 20 is world sparrow day!
CHIRP FOR SPARROWS!
TWEET FOR SPARROWS!
TEXT FOR SPARROWS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?client=mv-google&hl=en-GB&v=MQiq8FHrG_0&gl=US&nomobile=1
Iwan
We have a small pond in our garden surrounded by trees and steep bedrock. The other day we saw a heron flying over and attempting to land – I guess to try to eat our small stock of fish. We managed to frighten it away before it landed, and have since installed trip wires around the pond in order to dissuade the bird. The amount of shelter around the pond means that a heron would have to land practically vertically. Does anyone know whether these birds have the agility to hover and land in this way, or do they always need a “glidepath” in order to land successfully?
Khng Eu Meng
Today, at the former Bidadari Cemetery, there was a buzz about a sighting of a Grey Nightjar (Caprimulgus jotaka). I heard some birders say this nightjar isn’t commonly seen in Singapore. After some hunting, we spotted it asleep on a tree branch, some 15 m above ground. This was rather interesting as my previous encounters with nightjars have been on either terra firma or on low branches.
Is this perching so high up the tree normal or is it unusual? I have posted a photo of it on my Facebook Timeline: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151125012234135&set=a.108191464134.96538.617499134&type=1&theater
Jess
Bird Sanctuary At Former Bidadari Cementry
1)Which is the best spot in Bidadari cemetery for bird watch?
2)Where this bird usually resident at?
3)What are some of the rare bird species that can be found at Bidadari?
4)Where is the particular hot spot for the hornbills, eagles, kingfishers and some of the rare migratory bird?
5)Which part of Bidadari are richest in it wildlife?
6)Can you name me the 59 migratory bird species found?
YC
Why not search the website using the word ‘Bidadari’ to obtain the information you need. There should be sufficient info in past postings to satisfy you.
Firdaus Razak
Hai, I just want to ask did anybody had an experience bring bird from oversea via MasKargo? Did the bird will stress at high altitude?
Arjun
I heard this interesting bird call in a forest, and recorded it. Could anyone help me identify it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uubzo1wdbU&feature=youtu.be
Chung Wah
Hi, I am new to bird photography! Could anyone advise a good pair of binoculars to get for this hobby?
YC
Try this Facebook… https://www.facebook.com/groups/394479540610099/
I am sure there would be someone willing to advise.
Geam Liang
I ‘acquired’ a female Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot 5 days ago – was in a public place when the bird flew overhead hit the wall and dropped right in front of me dazed. I picked it up, it appeared unhurt but could not sustain it’s flight. I have since constructed a fairly large ‘cage’ for it, about 4ft x 2fx x 2ft and placed it there last night. I temporarily placed her in a normal bird cage until I had completed the build.
From what I have read up, it’s a fruit, seed and insect feeder and also nectar, flower buds. It’s doing as well as it can on bananas, papaya, jack-fruit (didn’t touch the grape) and seeds (black and white sunflower and other smaller ones). It loves to bathe so I’ve gotten it a tray and from what I read it’s important to keep things clean as it easily succumbs to infection.
Does anyone else have any useful experience and sharing on it’s upkeep? I suspect this bird is an escapee – as far as I can read up, it’s not common, if at all, found in Georgetown, Penang where I am. I’m also not optimistic that it can survive if I were to set it free – assuming it can sustain it’s flight and not go crashing down and if there were dogs/cats around that would be the end of it.
I can attach some pictures but not sure how to do this…
thanks.
Lee Chiu San
The blue-crowned hanging parrot, even though very closely related to the lovebirds, is a nectar feeder. You would raise it the way you raise a lorikeet – which is a messy process. And because you are mixing batches of food for just one little bird, whereas I used to do it for about half a dozen pigeon-sized lorikeets each morning, I don’t know how you are going to get the portions down to manageable sizes. Anyway, here goes, with my recipe for feeding big lories. You can adjust the proportions down accordingly for your little bird.
The staple diet would be a couple of slices of soft fruit (papaya, apple, grapes, even though I am surprised that you said the bird would not eat any) and a mixture of cooked rice sweetened with nectar mix.
How to make nectar mix? Go to a pharmacy and get a can of food for invalids or infants. I use Complan, but I am sure any good baby formula would do. I usually make up enough to fill a beer mug, but there is no way you need that amount for a day’s feeding. If in doubt, make the mixture thinner, not thicker. Birds cannot digest baby formula that is too thick. If it is too thin, they simply have to consume more to get the required amount of energy. Then to this mug, add half a teaspoonful of rose syrup. Also stir in about a cup of cooked rice, well mashed up.
In the case of your bird, I suggest that you pour this lot into an ice-cube tray, freeze the mixture, and defrost one cube to feed it each day.
Now, you said that this bird eats sunflower seeds. This is most unusual for a blue-crowned hanging parrot. Are you sure that this is actually the species you have? Could it be possible that you have actually got a pet lovebird that escaped? There are so many different artificially-created breeds of lovebirds in so many colours that you might have been mistaken.
If you actually have a lovebird, feeding is much simpler. Just go to the nearest pet shop, buy a packet of budgerigar or cockatiel seed of a reputable international brand, and offer it to the bird. You can supplement this with a couple of slices of fruit each day, and that will be all. Plus of course fresh water and a piece of cuttlefish bone to nibble on.
Lee Chiu San
About nectar feeding birds. I forgot to add that feeding nectar is messy, and it goes rancid very quickly in our tropical weather. Feeding containers have to be removed and thoroughly cleaned at the end of each day. The birds also splatter the mixture and wipe their beaks on perches and the bars of the cage. All my lories and lorikeets used to be housed in outdoor aviaries which were hosed down daily.
If Geam Liang does not think the bird will survive if released, I really hope that it is a case of mistaken identity, and that you have a lovebird, rather than a blue-crowned hanging parrot. In our part of the world, all available lovebirds are domestically bred, take to captivity readily, and are easy to feed with commercially available seed mixtures. Yes, and being domestic pets, they would not survive if released.
Geam Liang
Thank you Chiu San for your inputs. Thus far, bananas and papayas work well. I’m not sure why it did not take to grapes – will try again. Am I supposed to peel it? I didn’t the last time, basically skewered a couple of grapes to a satay stick and positioned it as I did for the sliced and skinned papaya and peeled bananas.
I have yet to try rice and certainly not nectar but will try out your concoction – have half a mind to go to a pet shop to see if they carry nectar for birds. The ice-cube freeze method is a good one, will try that. I might be mistaken on the sunflower seeds… not touched but it did eat the much smaller roundish, mixed colored seeds. Will remove the sunflower seeds.
I’m sure it’s a female blue crowned hanging parrot.. it sleeps like a bat every night.
Lee Chiu San
When feeding local birds which are unfamiliar with imported fruits such as grapes, it helps to split the fruits to expose the edible parts. As to your remark that the bird sleeps hanging upside down like a bat, yes, that is the way blue-crowned hanging parrots sleep.
Geam Liang
Thanks… I need to think like a bird – yup. She has probably not seen a grape much less know that it’s edible, unless the previous owner has fed her with grapes… even then… Today she’s done pretty well making the most of the banana and all of the papaya plus quite a bit of seeds. Will try the baby food + mashed rise + rose syrup.
Will regular honey do instead of rose syrup?
Thanks.
Lee Chiu San
About making nectar to feed birds. Most aviculturalists do not use honey for two reasons: 1. It is expensive and does not seem to give any added benefits. 2. Honey is made by bees, and the composition varies wildly. Some honeys are also known to cause fungal infection in birds.
If you do not want to buy a huge bottle of rose syrup just for one tiny bird, there are cheaper alternatives. The first is plain table sugar, though most don’t seem to like it very much.
What many birds will accept quite readily as a sweetener is condensed milk – the type with sugar that coffee shop owners use.
Many, many birds have a sweet tooth (or should I say sweet beak?) Besides the usual suspects of lories, lorikeets, sunbirds and hummingbirds, for whom it is an essential part of the diet, nectar mixture is readily consumed by mynahs, leafbirds, fairy bluebirds, barbets, doves, parrots of all kinds, and a whole host of other species.
Geam Liang
I tried the condensed mild, placed in in a small bottle cap.. only the ants showed interest. Am I supposed to dilute it? I didn’t =( I took you advice and refrained from honey. Have yet to find Rose Syrup from the shelves of TESCO… will try to mix the baby food + mashed rise + rose syrup/sugar syrup this week…
David Thackray
Can anyone help me identify a bird I saw in Singapore last week. Size of a smakll dove or thrush. Dark metallic back. Grey breast with red throat, chest.
BESG
Any images?
Emily Koh
Lately I bought a bird feeder which I fill with 4parts water n 1 part white sugar. Sunbirds come regularly to drink and they are really lovely to watch. May I know if it is bad for them to feed on this? Previously they would sometimes pierce and drink from my potted flowers
Emily Koh
Lately I bought a bird feeder which I fill with 4parts water n 1 part white sugar. Sunbirds come regularly to drink and they are really lovely to watch. May I know if it is bad for them to feed on this? Previously they would sometimes pierce and drink from my potted flowers.
Ken Sng
Hi Friends,
I need help in identifying these 13 birds which i’ve published in a public album on Flickr.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/81819728@N00/y8ws5B
They are numbered 1-13 so if you know what they are please reply with number and name .
I’m doing a personal project to shoot 100 different birds in SG.
Thanks very Much !
Mahadevi Bhuti
One of best souce for the bird watcher’s enjoying knowledge about ornithology
Martin Nyffeler (PhD)
Dear Sir / Dear Madame,
I am a Senior Lecturer in Zoology at a University in Switzerland and I urgently need to get in touch with photographer Chan Yoke Meng, who takes beautiful photographs of birds near Singapore. Would you please mail me the email address of this photographer!
Thanks,
Martin
Wee Ming
Hello Besgroup,
Trust this email finds you well. We chance upon your photograph on your website and found the amazing image of the Laced Woodpecker and durians. We would like to explore the possibility of getting permission to use them for a new Bird Park in Singapore.
Spacelogic is a company based in Singapore and we have been contracted by Mandai Park Development to carry out design and build works relating to the exhibition interpretive displays in this new Bird Park.
Some background of the new Mandai Bird Park project; it will build upon the legacy of the Jurong Bird Park – https://www.wrs.com.sg/en/jurong-bird-park.html by retaining and building upon a world-reference bird collection and creating a place of colour and joy for all visitors. The new Bird Park will have a world-reference ornithological collection displayed in a highly immersive way with large walk-through habitats. To enhance visitors’ experience with storyline and narrative of the bird park, transition spaces are added to display exhibits that provide a varied type of fun, intuitive, interactive and educational experiences for all visitors. One of the habitats features the Laced Woodpecker on a flora panel It is in this flora panel that we are seeking your permission to feature the Laced Woodpecker. We are looking to use the first image on the link here.
Link can be found here: https://besgroup.org/2012/06/28/laced-woodpecker-and-durians/
We would like to ask if this is something that we can explore further and if yes, how can we go about with putting through a formal permission request. Thank you so much for considering our request and we look forward to hearing from you.
Warmest Regards,
Wee Ming
SPACElogic Pte Ltd