Oriental Dollarbird

The Oriental dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis) is a bird of the roller family, so named because of the distinctive blue coin-shaped spots on its wings. It can be found from Australia to Japan and India.

The oriental dollarbird was originally described in the genus Coracias. Formerly, some authorities have also considered the broad-billed roller and the azure dollarbird to have been subspecies of the oriental dollarbird. Alternate names for the oriental dollarbird include the Asian dollarbird, dark roller, dollar roller, dollarbird, eastern broad-billed roller and oriental broad-billed roller.

The oriental dollarbird has a length of up to 30 cm. It is dark brown but this is heavily washed with a bluish-green sheen on the back and wing coverts. Its belly and undertail coverts are light coloured, and it has glossy bright blue colouring on its throat and undertail. Its flight feathers are a darker blue. Its bill is short and wide and in mature animals is coloured orange-red with a black tip. It has very light blue patches on the outer parts of its wings which are highly visible in flight and for which it is named. The females are slightly duller than the males but overall the two are very similar. Immature birds are much duller than the adults and do not have the blue colouring on their throats. They also have brown bills and feet instead of the red of the adults.

The oriental dollarbird is found from Australia to Japan and India. It breeds in northern and eastern Australia between the months of September and April and winters in New Guinea and nearby islands. The birds prefer open wooded areas with hollow-bearing trees to build nests in.

The oriental dollarbird is most commonly seen singly with a distinctive upright silhouette on a bare branch high in a tree, from which it hawks for insects, returning to the same perch after a few seconds.

Red-eared slider

The red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans), also known as the red-eared terrapin, is a semi aquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is a subspecies of the pond slider. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States and is also popular as a pet in the rest of the world. It has, therefore, become the most commonly traded turtle in the world. It is native to the southern United States and northern Mexico, but has become established in other places because of pet releases, and has become an invasive species in many areas, where it outcompetes native species. The red-eared slider is included in the list of the world's 100 most invasive species published by the IUCN.

Red-eared sliders get their name from the small red stripe around their ears.. The "slider" in their name comes from their ability to slide off rocks and logs and into the water quickly. This species was previously known as Troost's turtle in honor of an American herpetologist; Trachemys scripta troostii is now the scientific name for another subspecies, the Cumberland slider.

The red-eared slider belongs to the order Testudines, which contains about 250 turtle species. It is a subspecies of Trachemys scripta. They were previously classified under the name Chrysemys scripta elegans.

The species Trachemys scripta contains three subspecies: T. s. elegans (red-eared slider), T. s. scripta (yellow-bellied slider), and T. s. troostii (Cumberland slider).

The carapace of this species can reach more than 40 cm (16 in) in length, but the average length ranges from 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 in). The females of the species are usually larger than the males. They typically live between 20 and 30 years, although some individuals have lived for more than 40 years. Their life expectancy is shorter when they are kept in captivity. The quality of their living environment has a strong influence on their lifespans and well being.

These turtles are poikilotherms, meaning they are unable to regulate their body temperatures independently; they are completely dependent on the temperature of their environment. For this reason, they need to sunbathe frequently to warm themselves and maintain their body temperatures.

The shell is divided into two sections: the upper or dorsal carapace, and the lower, ventral carapace or plastron. The upper carapace consists of the vertebral scutes, which form the central, elevated portion; pleural scutes that are located around the vertebral scutes; and then the marginal scutes around the edge of the carapace. The rear marginal scutes are notched. The scutes are bony keratinous elements. The carapace is oval and flattened (especially in the male) and has a weak keel that is more pronounced in the young. The color of the carapace changes depending on the age of the turtle. The carapace usually has a dark green background with light and dark, highly variable markings. In young or recently hatched turtles, it is leaf green and gets slightly darker as a turtle gets older, until it is a very dark green, and then turns a shade between brown and olive green. The plastron is always a light yellow with dark, paired, irregular markings in the centre of most scutes. The plastron is highly variable in pattern. The head, legs, and tail are green with fine, irregular, yellow lines. The whole shell is covered in these stripes and markings that aid in camouflaging an individual.

Turtles also have a complete skeletal system, with partially webbed feet that help them to swim and that can be withdrawn inside the carapace along with the head and tail. The red stripe on each side of the head distinguishes the red-eared slider from all other North American species and gives this species its name, as the stripe is located behind the eyes where their (external) ears would be. These stripes may lose their color over time. Some individuals can also have a small mark of the same color on the top of their heads. The red-eared slider does not have a visible outer ear or an external auditory canal; instead, it relies on a middle ear entirely covered by a cartilaginous tympanic disc.

The main internal organs of these reptiles are the lungs, heart, stomach, liver, intestines, and the urinary bladder. A cloaca serves both excretory and reproductive functions.

The red-eared slider originated from the area around the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, in warm climates in the southeastern United States. Their native areas range from the southeast of Colorado to Virginia and Florida. In nature, they inhabit areas with a source of still, warm water, such as ponds, lakes, swamps, creeks, streams, or slow-flowing rivers. They live in areas of calm water where they are able to leave the water easily by climbing onto rocks or tree trunks so they can warm up in the sun. Individuals are often found sunbathing in a group or even on top of each other. They also require abundant aquatic plants, as these are the adults' main food, although they are omnivores. Turtles in the wild always remain close to water unless they are searching for a new habitat or when females leave the water to lay their eggs.

Owing to their popularity as pets, red-eared sliders have been released or escaped into the wild in many parts of the world. The turtle is considered one of the world’s worst invasive species. Feral populations are now found in Australia, Europe, South Africa, the Caribbean Islands, Israel, Bahrain, the Mariana Islands, Guam, and southeast and far-east Asia. In Australia, it is illegal for members of the public to import, keep, trade, or release red-eared sliders, as they are regarded as an invasive species - see below. Their import has been banned by the European Union as well as specific EU member countries. In 2015 Japan announced it was planning to ban the import of red-eared sliders, but it would probably not take effect until 2020. Invasive red-eared sliders cause negative impacts in the ecosystems they occupy because they have certain advantages over the native populations, such as a lower age at maturity, higher fecundity rates, and larger body size, which gives them a competitive advantage at basking and nesting sites, as well as when exploiting food resources. They also transmit diseases and displace the other turtle species with which they compete for food and breeding space.

Red-eared sliders are almost entirely aquatic, but as they are cold-blooded, they leave the water to sunbathe to regulate their temperature.

White-Breasted Waterhen

The white-breasted waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) is a waterbird of the rail and crake family, Rallidae, that is widely distributed across Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. They are dark slaty birds with a clean white face, breast and belly. They are somewhat bolder than most other rails and are often seen stepping slowly with their tail cocked upright in open marshes or even drains near busy roads. They are largely crepuscular in activity and during the breeding season, just after the first rains, make loud and repetitive croaking calls.

Adult white-breasted waterhens have mainly dark grey upperparts and flanks, and a white face, neck and breast. The lower belly and undertail are cinnamon coloured. The body is flattened laterally to allow easier passage through the reeds or undergrowth. They have long toes, a short tail and a yellow bill and legs. Sexes are similar but females measure slightly smaller. Immature birds are much duller versions of the adults. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails.

Several subspecies are named for the populations that are widely distributed. The nominate subspecies is described from Sri Lanka but is often widened to include chinensis of mainland India and adjoining regions in Asia, west to Arabia and east nearly to Japan. The remaining subspecies are those from islands and include insularis of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, midnicobaricus of the central Nicobars, leucocephala of Car Nicobar, maldivus of the Maldives, javanicus of Java and leucomelanus of Sulawesi and the Lesser Sundas.

Their breeding habitat is marshes across south Asia from Pakistan, Maldives, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka to south China, Philippines, and Indonesia. They are mainly seen in the plains but have been known from the higher hills such as in Nainital (1300m) and the High Range (1500m) in Kerala. These large 32 cm long rails are permanent residents throughout their range. They make short distance movements and are known to colonize new areas. They have been noted as some of the early colonizers on the volcanic island of Rakata. Although most often found near freshwater, they are also found near brackish water and even the seashore when there is no freshwater as on the volcanic Barren Island in the Andamans.

These birds are usually seen singly or in pairs as they forage slowly along the edge of a waterbody mainly on the ground but sometimes clambering up low vegetation. The tail is held up and jerked as they walk. They probe with their bill in mud or shallow water, also picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects (large numbers of beetles have been recorded), small fish (which are often carefully washed in water), aquatic invertebrates and grains or seeds such as those of Pithecolobium dulce. They may sometimes feed in deeper water in the manner of a moorhen.

The nesting season is mainly June to October but varies locally. They nest in a dry location on the ground in marsh vegetation, laying 6-7 eggs. Courtship involves bowing, billing and nibbling. The eggs hatch in about 19 days. Both sexes incubate the eggs and take care of the chicks. Chicks often dive underwater to escape predation. Adults are said to build a roost or brood nest where young chicks and the adults roost.

Many rails are very secretive, but white-breasted waterhens are often seen out in the open. They can be noisy especially at dawn and dusk, with loud croaky calls. The Andamans population insularis is said to make duck like quack calls

Plantain Squirrel/ Oriental Squirrel/ Tricoloured Squirrel - First light

The plantain squirrel, oriental squirrel or tricoloured squirrel, Callosciurus notatus is a species of rodents in the family Sciuridae found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand in a wide range of habitats: forests, mangroves, parks, gardens, and agricultural areas. Fruit farmers consider them to be pests.

Its body is about 20–30 cm long with a similar-sized tail. It is greyish/brown with a chestnut belly and a black and white stripe between the two. The genus name Callosciurus means beautiful squirrels.

Its diet consists mostly of leaves and fruits, but it also eats insects and bird eggs. It is known to break open twigs that contain ant larvae to eat them. It can eat fruits much bigger than itself, such as mangoes, jackfruit, or coconuts. It is very quick and agile in trees, able to jump a few metres between trees, and rarely wanders on the ground.

Kloss's squirrel (Callosciurus albescens) is sometimes considered a subspecies.

The milky stork (Mycteria cinerea) is a medium, almost completely white plumaged stork species found predominantly in coastal mangroves in parts of Southeast Asia.

The milky stork was formerly placed in the Ibis genus, with the binomial name Ibis cinereus, but is now categorised as belonging to Mycteria due to large similarities in appearance and behaviour to the three other storks in this genus (the wood stork, yellow-billed stork and painted stork). Phylogenetic studies based on DNA hybridization and cytochrome oxidase b have demonstrated that the milky stork shares a clade with other Mycteria, and forms a sister pair of species with the painted stork.

Adult:

This medium stork stands 91–97 cm tall, making it slightly smaller than the closely related painted stork. The adult plumage is completely white except for black flight feathers of the wing and tail, which also have a greenish gloss. Wing length measures 435–500 mm and the tail measures 145–170 mm. The extensive white portion of the plumage is completely suffused with a pale creamy yellow during the breeding season, hence the term “milky”. This creamy tint is absent from the plumage during breeding. The wing coverts and back feathers are paler and have an almost white terminal band.

The bare facial skin is greyish or dark maroon; with black, irregular blotches. During breeding, the bare facial skin is deep wine red with black markings on the lores by the bill base and gular region, with a ring of brighter red skin around the eye. Soon after courtship, the facial skin fades to paler orange-red. Breeding birds also show a narrow pinkish band of bare skin along the underside of the wing.

The downcurved bill is dull pinkish yellow and sometimes tipped white. The culmen length measures 194 – 275mm. The legs are a dull red-flesh colour, with the tarsi measuring 188 – 225mm. It has long thick toes that probably serve to increase surface area of its feet and therefore reduce pressure from standing and walking on the soft mud of its foraging area, so that the bird does not sink considerably when foraging and feeding.

During courtship, the bill turns deep yellow, with a greyish tan on the basal third; and the legs become deep magenta. The sexes are similar, but the average male is slightly larger with a longer, thinner bill.

The adult is readily recognisable in the field by its white head feathers, yellow-orange bill and pink legs. It is distinguished from other waders such as egrets and lesser adjutants by its extensively white body plumage and black wing coverts. However, the milky stork resembles and may therefore be confused with the partly sympatric Asian Openbill and various white egret species. Nevertheless, the egrets are smaller and completely white, and the Asian Openbill is also smaller and distinguished from the milky stork by the grey bill. In the northern part of its range around Vietnam, milky storks occasionally occur in sympatry with the closely related and morphologically similar painted storks. However, the painted stork is distinguished from the milky stork in adult plumage by the former’s black and white breast band and wing coverts, pink inner secondaries, more restricted bare head skin, and generally brighter soft part colouration.

Like other storks, the milky stork habitually soars on thermals to travel between areas. Flocks of up to a dozen birds can be seen soaring on thermals at great heights between 10:00 and 14:00. At breeding colonies and feeding grounds, flight is contagious in that take-off by one bird is quickly followed by others. Average flapping rate has been estimated at 205 beats per minute.

Juvenile:

At hatching, the chicks are covered with white down. Contour feathers begin to appear by 10–14 days, and the chicks become fully feathered with full plumage after 4–6 weeks. This plumage is typically pale greyish brown with a white lower back, rump and tail coverts; some white downy feathers remaining under the wings and underside of the body; black wing and tail feathers with a white and dark brown wing lining; distinct feathering on the greyish brown head, and dull yellow bare parts. After about 10 weeks when juveniles have fledged, loss of head feathers begins; and the dark, bare areas on the forehead and sides of the head around the eyes become visible. These dark bare areas are sometimes interspersed with dull orange spots. Nestlings also have a dark brownish grey bill and skin around the bill and eye.

By the age of three months, the previously feathered head is now completely bald and the dull bill has become warm yellow with a greenish yellow tip. Both features are characteristic of adults. Milky stork juveniles appear almost identical to painted stork juveniles, but are said to be distinguishable from painted stork juveniles by their paler underwing lining contrasting with the completely black flight feathers, whereas this underwing lining is completely black in painted storks.

The milky stork is usually silent during non-breeding. At nests, individuals utter a falsetto “fizz” call during the Up-Down display. The young utter a froglike croak when begging for food.

Especially in captivity in National Zoo of Malaysia, Singapore Zoo and Dusit Zoo, milky storks and painted interbred to produce hybrid offspring. These hybrids apparently vary in appearance through different combinations of milky stork and painted stork phenotypes in varying proportions. Because these hybrid juveniles are not readily distinguishable from pure-bred juveniles based on morphology, molecular methods have been used to detect possible hybrids. Compared to the parent painted stork, the adult hybrid has a pink rather than orange bill and head. Adult hybrids may also have some small black spots on the white wing and a subtle pink tinge on the feathers.

Across all ages in this species, the iris is dark brown; and the legs are pinkish, but appear white due to a covering of the birds’ excreta.

In 2008, the global population was fewer than 2200 individuals, which is a reduction from approximately 5000 in the 1980s. In Malaysia, population counts decreased steadily from over 100 individuals in 1984 to less than 10 by 2005 (by over 90%), so that the population here faces local extinction. Of the current world population estimate, there are probably about 1600 individuals in Sumatra, less than 500 on Java, and less than 100 on the southeast Asian mainland. The Cambodian population is very small, numbering 100–150 individuals; and although it may be relatively stable, rapid declines are expected if serious threats persist. Due to the substantial population declines across its range, the milky stork’s population status was elevated to Endangered from Vulnerable in 2013 by the IUCN.

Common Greenshank

The common greenshank (Tringa nebularia) is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae, the typical waders. The genus name Tringa is the New Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific nebularia is from Latin nebula "mist". Like the Norwegian Skoddefoll, this refers to the greenshank's damp marshy habitat.

Its closest relative is the greater yellowlegs, which together with the spotted redshank form a close-knit group. Among them, these three species show all the basic leg and foot colours found in the shanks, demonstrating that this character is paraphyletic. They are also the largest shanks apart from the willet, which is altogether more robustly built. The greater yellowlegs and the common greenshank share a coarse, dark, and fairly crisp breast pattern as well as much black on the shoulders and back in breeding plumage.

This is a subarctic bird, breeding from northern Scotland eastwards across northern Europe and Asia. It is a migratory species, wintering in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Australasia, usually on fresh water. It breeds on dry ground near marshy areas, laying about four eggs in a ground scrape.

Common greenshanks are brown in breeding plumage, and grey-brown in winter. When in water, they can appear very similar to marsh sandpipers but are distinguished by the shape of the lower bill which gives it an upturned appearance to the bill. They have long greenish legs and a long bill with a grey base. They show a white wedge on the back in flight. They are somewhat larger than the related common redshank. The usual call is a rapid series of three short fluty notes syllabilized as teu-teu-teu.

Like most waders, they feed on small invertebrates, but will also take small fish and amphibians.

The common greenshank is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Brahminy Kite/ Red-Backed Sea Eagle - Hunting Sequence: Finding Fish

The brahminy kite (Haliastur indus), also known as the red-backed sea-eagle in Australia, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. They are found in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Australia. They are found mainly on the coast and in inland wetlands where they feed on dead fish and other prey. Adults have a reddish-brown plumage and a contrasting white head and breast which makes them easy to distinguish from other birds of prey.

The brahminy kite is distinctive and contrastingly coloured, with chestnut plumage except for the white head and breast and black wing tips. The juveniles are browner, but can be distinguished from both the resident and migratory races of black kites in Asia by the paler appearance, shorter wings, and rounded tail. The pale patch on the underwing carpal region is of a squarish shape and separated from Buteo buzzards.

The brahminy kite is about the same size as the black kite (Milvus migrans) and has a typical kite flight, with wings angled, but its tail is rounded unlike the Milvus species, red kite, and black kite, which have forked tails. The two genera are however very close.

The call is a mewing keeyew.

This kite is a familiar sight in the skies of Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and southeast Asia and as far south as New South Wales, Australia, through which region it is widespread and resident. They perform seasonal movements associated with rainfall in some parts of their range.

They are mainly seen in the plains but can sometimes occur above 5000 feet in the Himalayas.

It is evaluated as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However the species is on the decline in some parts such as Java.

Journey into a World of Colours

21 July to 3 August 2018

The oriental pied hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) is an Indo-Malayan pied hornbill, a large canopy-dwelling bird belonging to the Bucerotidae family. Two other common names for this species are sunda pied hornbill (convexus) and Malaysian pied hornbill. The species is considered to be among the smallest and most common of the Asian hornbills. It has the largest distribution in the genus and is found in the Indian Subcontinent and throughout Southeast Asia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The oriental pied hornbill's diet includes fruit, insects and small reptiles.

The Oriental hornbill, of the family Bucerotidae, belongs to the genus Anthracoceros, which consists of five species. Species in this genus are divided into two groups, Indo-Malayan pied hornbills and black hornbills. A. albirostris is grouped under the Indo-Malayan pied hornbills, based on plumage similarities, along with the Indian pied hornbill (A. coronatus) and the Palawan hornbill (A. marchei). The black hornbills include A. malayanus and A. montani. A. albirostris can be further categorized into two subspecies, A. a. albirostris and A. a. convexus.

The oriental pied hornbill is a medium size frugivore with a head-to-tail length of 55–60 cm from head to tail and a wingspan of 23–36 cm. The bill measures 19 cm for males and 16 cm for females. It can weigh between 600 g and 1,050 g, averaging 900 g for males and 875 g for females. The plumage of the head, neck, back, wings and upper breast is black with a slight green sheen. The tail is black with white tips on all the feathers except the central feathers (rectories). The plumage of their lower breast, lower abdomen, thighs, under-wing and all the tips of the wings except the three basal secondaries and two outer primaries is white, as is the circumorbital skin around the eyes and on the throat skin. A blue tinge can sometimes be noticed on the throat of adults. Casques of mature A. albirostri are laterally flattened “cylinders”, which may form a protruding horn. Males and females are similar in coloration. Males can be distinguished from females by their larger body size, yellow bill, which has a black base, and bright red eyes. Females have a slightly smaller body size, a yellow bill and casque with a partly black, browned patched mandible, and grayish-brown eyes. Juvenile A. albirostris resemble the adults, but have an undeveloped casque and a smaller bill. Their black plumage lacks the green gloss found on adults.

The calls of the oriental pied hornbill have been described as crowlike sounds, braying sounds or harsh crackles and screeches

The oriental pied hornbill is found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Eastern and Northern India, Indonesia, Laos, North peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam and the Sunda shelf islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Within these regions, A. albirostris occupies various habitat types, which include dry and semi-evergreen forests, dry and moist deciduous forests, subtropical broadleaf forests, secondary forests, plantations and woodlands.

The species has an extremely wide range and appears to be the hornbill species most adaptable to habitat alterations; it is thus not currently considered to be threatened. What declines in oriental pied hornbill population have been reported are mainly caused by legal and illegal logging, which decreases the availability of suitable nesting and fruiting trees. A. albirostris are subject to some hunting pressure (casques are sold as souvenirs) and are popular as pets in some areas. It has also been noted that the species has been almost completely extirpated from southern China.

Conservation efforts such as captive breeding and reintroduction are currently in practice. Breeding in captivity of has so far shown a low success rate. In some areas such as Cambodia, artificial nests made from iron tanks are installed in nesting sites to provide alternative nesting sites for hornbills when natural nest-site availability is low and to aid reintroduction.

The little egret (Egretta garzetta) is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. The genus name comes from the Provençal French Aigrette, "egret", a diminutive of Aigron," heron". The species epithet garzetta is from the Italian name for this bird, garzetta or sgarzetta.

It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on land, consuming a variety of small creatures. It breeds colonially, often with other species of water birds, making a platform nest of sticks in a tree, bush or reed bed. A clutch of bluish-green eggs is laid and incubated by both parents. The young fledge at about six weeks of age.

Its breeding distribution is in wetlands in warm temperate to tropical parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. In warmer locations, most birds are permanent residents; northern populations, including many European birds, migrate to Africa and southern Asia to over-winter there. The birds may also wander north in late summer after the breeding season, and their tendency to disperse may have assisted in the recent expansion of the bird's range. At one time common in Western Europe, it was hunted extensively in the 19th century to provide plumes for the decoration of hats and became locally extinct in northwestern Europe and scarce in the south. Around 1950, conservation laws were introduced in southern Europe to protect the species and their numbers began to increase. By the beginning of the 21st century the bird was breeding again in France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Britain. It has also begun to colonise the New World; it was first seen in Barbados in 1954 and first bred there in 1994. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the bird's global conservation status as being of "least concern".

Great Egret, golden hour flight

The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret or (in the Old World) great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret, with four subspecies found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world. It builds tree nests in colonies close to water.

Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family, Ardeidae. Traditionally classified with the storks in the Ciconiiformes, the Ardeidae are closer relatives of pelicans and belong in the Pelecaniformes instead. The great egret—unlike the typical egrets—does not belong to the genus Egretta but together with the great herons is today placed in Ardea. In the past, however, it was sometimes placed in Egretta or separated in a monotypic genus Casmerodius.

The Old World population is often referred to as the great white egret. This species is sometimes confused with the great white heron of the Caribbean, which is a white morph of the closely related great blue heron.

The scientific name comes from Latin ardea "heron", and alba, "white".

The great egret is a large heron with all-white plumage. Standing up to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall, this species can measure 80 to 104 cm (31 to 41 in) in length and have a wingspan of 131 to 170 cm (52 to 67 in). Body mass can range from 700 to 1,500 g (1.5 to 3.3 lb), with an average of around 1,000 g (2.2 lb). It is thus only slightly smaller than the great blue or grey heron (A. cinerea). Apart from size, the great egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. Differentiated from the intermediate egret (Mesophoyx intermedius) by the gape, which extends well beyond the back of the eye in case of the great egret, but ends just behind the eye in case of the intermediate egret.

It has a slow flight, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, ibises, and spoonbills, which extend their necks in flight. The great egret walks with its neck extended and wings held close. The great egret is not normally a vocal bird; it gives a low hoarse croak when disturbed, and at breeding colonies, it often gives a loud croaking cuk cuk cuk and higher-pitched squawks.

Snowy Egret

The snowy egret (Egretta thula) is a small white heron. The genus name comes from the Provençal French for the little egret aigrette, a diminutive of aigron, "heron". The species name thula is the Araucano for the Black-necked Swan, applied to this species in error by Chilean naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782.

The snowy egret is the American counterpart to the very similar Old World little egret, which has established a foothold in the Bahamas. At one time, the beautiful plumes of the snowy egret were in great demand by market hunters as decorations for women's hats. This reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels.[citation needed] Now protected in the United States by law, under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, this bird's population has rebounded.

Adults are typically 61 cm (24 in) long and weigh 375 g (0.827 lb) They have a slim black bill and long black legs with yellow feet. The area of the upper bill, in front of the eyes, is yellow but turns red during the breeding season, when the adults also gain recurved plumes on the back, making for a "shaggy" effect. The juvenile looks similar to the adult, but the base of the bill is paler, and a green or yellow line runs down the back of the legs.

Snowy egrets nest in colonies on thick vegetation in isolated places, such as barrier islands, dredge-spoil islands, salt marsh islands, swamps, and marshes. They often change location from year to year. During the breeding season, snowy egrets feed in estuaries, saltmarshes, tidal channels, shallow bays, and mangroves. They winter in mangroves, saltwater lagoons, freshwater swamps, grassy ponds, and temporary pools, and forage on beaches, shallow reefs, and wet fields.

The snowy egret eats mostly aquatic animals, including fish, frogs, worms, crustaceans, and insects. It often uses its bright yellow feet to paddle in the water or probe in the mud, rounding up prey before striking with its bill. Snowy egrets feed while standing, walking, running, or hopping, and they may vibrate their bills, sway their heads, or flick their wings as part of prey gathering. They even forage while hovering. Snowy egrets forage in saltmarsh pools, tidal channels, tidal flats, freshwater marshes, swamps, ocean inlets, and lake edges, usually preferring brackish or marine habitats with shallow water. Other foraging water birds often assemble around them to form mixed-species foraging groups.

Snowy egrets are permanent residents in most of South America and Central America. In the United States, they are often permanent residents along the Atlantic coast north to Virginia Beach, Virginia, along the Gulf Coast, and along the Pacific lowlands from central California southward. During the breeding season, snowy egrets wander north along the Atlantic flyway between the lower Chesapeake Bay and coastal Rhode Island, and up the Pacific Coast to northern California. Snowy egrets also breed in the lower Mississippi Valley westward into eastern Texas. Birds banded in United States have been recovered as far away as Panama and Trinidad.

The birds eat fish, crustaceans, insects, small reptiles, snails, frogs, worms, mice and crayfish. They stalk prey in shallow water, often running or shuffling their feet, flushing prey into view, as well "dip-fishing" by flying with their feet just over the water. Snowy egrets may also stand still and wait to ambush prey, or hunt for insects stirred up by domestic animals in open fields.

The crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), also known as the long-tailed macaque, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. It is referred to as the cynomolgus monkey in laboratories. It has a long history alongside humans; they have been alternately seen as agricultural pests, sacred animals in some temples, and more recently, the subject of medical experiments. The crab-eating macaque lives in matrilineal social groups with a female dominance hierarchy, and male members leave the group when they reach puberty. They are opportunistic omnivores and have been documented using tools to obtain food in Thailand and Myanmar. The crab-eating macaque is a known invasive species and a threat to biodiversity in several locations, including Hong Kong and western New Guinea. The significant overlap in macaque and human living space has resulted in greater habitat loss, synanthropic living, and inter- and intraspecies conflicts over resources.

Macaca comes from the Portuguese word macaco, which was derived from makaku, a Fiot (West African language) word (kaku means monkey in Fiot). The specific epithet fascicularis is Latin for a small band or stripe. Sir Thomas Raffles, who gave the animal its scientific name in 1821, did not specify what he meant by the use of this word.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, M. fascicularis and other macaque species are known generically as kera, possibly because of their high-pitched cries.

The crab-eating macaque has several common names. It is often referred to as the long-tailed macaque due to its tail, which is often longer than its body. The name crab-eating macaque refers to its being often seen foraging beaches for crabs. Another common name for M. fascicularis is the cynomolgus monkey, from the name of a race of humans with long hair and handsome beards who used dogs for hunting according to Aristophanes of Byzantium, who seemingly derived the etymology of the word cynomolgus from the Greek κύων, cyon: dog (Gen. cyno-s) and the verb ἀμέλγειν, amelgein: to milk (Adj. amolg-os), by claiming that they milked female dogs. This name is commonly used in laboratory settings.

In Thailand, the species is called "ลิงแสม" (Ling s̄æm; lit: "Mangrove monkeys") because it lives and forages in mangrove forests.

The body length of the adult, which varies among subspecies, is 38–55 cm (15–22 in) with relatively short arms and legs. Males are considerably larger than females, weighing 5–9 kg (11–20 lb) compared to the 3–6 kg (6.6–13.2 lb) of females. The tail is longer than the body, typically 40–65 cm (16–26 in), which is used for balance when they jump distances up to 5 m (16 ft). The upper parts of the body are dark brown with light golden brown tips. The under parts are light grey with a dark grey/brown tail. Crab-eating macaques have backwards-directed crown hairs which sometimes form short crests on the midline. Their skin is black on their feet and ears, whereas the skin on the muzzle is a light grayish pink color. The eyelids often have prominent white markings and sometimes there are white spots on the ears. Males have a characteristic mustache and cheek whiskers, while females have only cheek whiskers. Crab-eating macaques have a cheek pouch which they use to store food while foraging. Females show no perineal swelling.

Macaques live in social groups that contain three to 20 females, their offspring, and one or many males. The groups usually have fewer males than females. In social groups of macaques, a clear dominance hierarchy is seen among females. These ranks remain stable throughout the female’s lifetime and also can be sustained through generations of matrilines. Females have their highest birth rates around 10 years of age and completely stop bearing young by age 24.

The social groups of macaques are female-bonded, meaning the males will disperse at the time of puberty. Thus, group relatedness on average appears to be lower than compared to matrilines. More difference in relatedness occurs when comparing high-ranking lineages to lower ranking lineages, with higher-ranking individuals being more closely related to one another. Additionally, groups of dispersing males born into the same social groups display a range of relatedness, at times appearing to be brothers, while at other times appearing to be unrelated.

In Thailand and Myanmar, crab-eating macaques use stone tools to open nuts, oysters, and other bivalves, and various types of sea snails (nerites, muricids, trochids, etc.) along the Andaman sea coast and offshore islands.

Another instance of tool use is washing and rubbing foods such as sweet potatoes, cassava roots, and papaya leaves before consumption. Crab-eating macaques either soak these foods in water or rub them through their hands as if to clean them. They also peel the sweet potatoes, using their incisors and canine teeth. Adolescents appear to acquire these behaviors by observational learning of older individuals.

The crab-eating macaque lives in a wide variety of habitats, including primary lowland rainforests, disturbed and secondary rainforests, shrubland, and riverine and coastal forests of nipa palm and mangrove. They also easily adjust to human settlements; they are considered sacred at some Hindu temples and on some small islands,[9] but are pests around farms and villages. Typically, they prefer disturbed habitats and forest periphery. The native range of this species includes most of mainland Southeast Asia, from extreme southeastern Bangladesh south through Malaysia, and the Maritime Southeast Asia islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, offshore islands, the islands of the Philippines, and the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. This primate is a rare example of a terrestrial mammal that violates the Wallace line.

The crab-eating macaque has the third-largest range of any primate species, behind only humans and rhesus macaques. The IUCN Red List categorizes the species as Least Concern, and CITES lists them as Appendix II ("not necessarily threatened with extinction", in which trade must be controlled to avoid use incompatible with their survival). A recent review of their populations suggests a need for better monitoring of populations due to increased wild trade and rising levels of human-macaque conflict, which are reducing overall population levels despite the species being widely distributed.

The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret or (in the Old World) great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret, with four subspecies found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world. It builds tree nests in colonies close to water.

Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family, Ardeidae. Traditionally classified with the storks in the Ciconiiformes, the Ardeidae are closer relatives of pelicans and belong in the Pelecaniformes instead. The great egret—unlike the typical egrets—does not belong to the genus Egretta but together with the great herons is today placed in Ardea. In the past, however, it was sometimes placed in Egretta or separated in a monotypic genus Casmerodius.

The Old World population is often referred to as the great white egret. This species is sometimes confused with the great white heron of the Caribbean, which is a white morph of the closely related great blue heron.

The scientific name comes from Latin ardea "heron", and alba, "white".

The great egret is a large heron with all-white plumage. Standing up to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall, this species can measure 80 to 104 cm (31 to 41 in) in length and have a wingspan of 131 to 170 cm (52 to 67 in). Body mass can range from 700 to 1,500 g (1.5 to 3.3 lb), with an average of around 1,000 g (2.2 lb). It is thus only slightly smaller than the great blue or grey heron (A. cinerea). Apart from size, the great egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. Differentiated from the intermediate egret (Mesophoyx intermedius) by the gape, which extends well beyond the back of the eye in case of the great egret, but ends just behind the eye in case of the intermediate egret.

It has a slow flight, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, ibises, and spoonbills, which extend their necks in flight. The great egret walks with its neck extended and wings held close. The great egret is not normally a vocal bird; it gives a low hoarse croak when disturbed, and at breeding colonies, it often gives a loud croaking cuk cuk cuk and higher-pitched squawks.

Pink-necked green pigeon

The pink-necked green pigeon (Treron vernans) is a bird of the Columbidae family. It is found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

Male has mostly green plumage with greyish head, pinkish nape, neck and upper breast, orange central breast and dark chestnut undertail-coverts. Female lacks the pinkish and orange plumage of the male. Juvenile of both sexes resembles female but male will soon start to show patches of adult plumage.

Habitat: Forests, mangroves, wooded areas, gardens and parks.

Ecology/Behaviour: Arboreal, seldom come to the ground except to drink.

Red-eared slider

The red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans), also known as the red-eared terrapin, is a semi aquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is a subspecies of the pond slider. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States and is also popular as a pet in the rest of the world. It has, therefore, become the most commonly traded turtle in the world. It is native to the southern United States and northern Mexico, but has become established in other places because of pet releases, and has become an invasive species in many areas, where it outcompetes native species. The red-eared slider is included in the list of the world's 100 most invasive species published by the IUCN.

Red-eared sliders get their name from the small red stripe around their ears.. The "slider" in their name comes from their ability to slide off rocks and logs and into the water quickly. This species was previously known as Troost's turtle in honor of an American herpetologist; Trachemys scripta troostii is now the scientific name for another subspecies, the Cumberland slider.

The red-eared slider belongs to the order Testudines, which contains about 250 turtle species. It is a subspecies of Trachemys scripta. They were previously classified under the name Chrysemys scripta elegans.

The species Trachemys scripta contains three subspecies: T. s. elegans (red-eared slider), T. s. scripta (yellow-bellied slider), and T. s. troostii (Cumberland slider).

The carapace of this species can reach more than 40 cm (16 in) in length, but the average length ranges from 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 in). The females of the species are usually larger than the males. They typically live between 20 and 30 years, although some individuals have lived for more than 40 years. Their life expectancy is shorter when they are kept in captivity. The quality of their living environment has a strong influence on their lifespans and well being.

These turtles are poikilotherms, meaning they are unable to regulate their body temperatures independently; they are completely dependent on the temperature of their environment. For this reason, they need to sunbathe frequently to warm themselves and maintain their body temperatures.

The shell is divided into two sections: the upper or dorsal carapace, and the lower, ventral carapace or plastron. The upper carapace consists of the vertebral scutes, which form the central, elevated portion; pleural scutes that are located around the vertebral scutes; and then the marginal scutes around the edge of the carapace. The rear marginal scutes are notched. The scutes are bony keratinous elements. The carapace is oval and flattened (especially in the male) and has a weak keel that is more pronounced in the young. The color of the carapace changes depending on the age of the turtle. The carapace usually has a dark green background with light and dark, highly variable markings. In young or recently hatched turtles, it is leaf green and gets slightly darker as a turtle gets older, until it is a very dark green, and then turns a shade between brown and olive green. The plastron is always a light yellow with dark, paired, irregular markings in the centre of most scutes. The plastron is highly variable in pattern. The head, legs, and tail are green with fine, irregular, yellow lines. The whole shell is covered in these stripes and markings that aid in camouflaging an individual.

Turtles also have a complete skeletal system, with partially webbed feet that help them to swim and that can be withdrawn inside the carapace along with the head and tail. The red stripe on each side of the head distinguishes the red-eared slider from all other North American species and gives this species its name, as the stripe is located behind the eyes where their (external) ears would be. These stripes may lose their color over time. Some individuals can also have a small mark of the same color on the top of their heads. The red-eared slider does not have a visible outer ear or an external auditory canal; instead, it relies on a middle ear entirely covered by a cartilaginous tympanic disc.

The main internal organs of these reptiles are the lungs, heart, stomach, liver, intestines, and the urinary bladder. A cloaca serves both excretory and reproductive functions.

The red-eared slider originated from the area around the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, in warm climates in the southeastern United States. Their native areas range from the southeast of Colorado to Virginia and Florida. In nature, they inhabit areas with a source of still, warm water, such as ponds, lakes, swamps, creeks, streams, or slow-flowing rivers. They live in areas of calm water where they are able to leave the water easily by climbing onto rocks or tree trunks so they can warm up in the sun. Individuals are often found sunbathing in a group or even on top of each other. They also require abundant aquatic plants, as these are the adults' main food, although they are omnivores. Turtles in the wild always remain close to water unless they are searching for a new habitat or when females leave the water to lay their eggs.

Owing to their popularity as pets, red-eared sliders have been released or escaped into the wild in many parts of the world. The turtle is considered one of the world’s worst invasive species. Feral populations are now found in Australia, Europe, South Africa, the Caribbean Islands, Israel, Bahrain, the Mariana Islands, Guam, and southeast and far-east Asia. In Australia, it is illegal for members of the public to import, keep, trade, or release red-eared sliders, as they are regarded as an invasive species - see below. Their import has been banned by the European Union as well as specific EU member countries. In 2015 Japan announced it was planning to ban the import of red-eared sliders, but it would probably not take effect until 2020. Invasive red-eared sliders cause negative impacts in the ecosystems they occupy because they have certain advantages over the native populations, such as a lower age at maturity, higher fecundity rates, and larger body size, which gives them a competitive advantage at basking and nesting sites, as well as when exploiting food resources. They also transmit diseases and displace the other turtle species with which they compete for food and breeding space.

Red-eared sliders are almost entirely aquatic, but as they are cold-blooded, they leave the water to sunbathe to regulate their temperature.

The crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), also known as the long-tailed macaque, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. It is referred to as the cynomolgus monkey in laboratories. It has a long history alongside humans; they have been alternately seen as agricultural pests, sacred animals in some temples, and more recently, the subject of medical experiments. The crab-eating macaque lives in matrilineal social groups with a female dominance hierarchy, and male members leave the group when they reach puberty. They are opportunistic omnivores and have been documented using tools to obtain food in Thailand and Myanmar. The crab-eating macaque is a known invasive species and a threat to biodiversity in several locations, including Hong Kong and western New Guinea. The significant overlap in macaque and human living space has resulted in greater habitat loss, synanthropic living, and inter- and intraspecies conflicts over resources.

Macaca comes from the Portuguese word macaco, which was derived from makaku, a Fiot (West African language) word (kaku means monkey in Fiot). The specific epithet fascicularis is Latin for a small band or stripe. Sir Thomas Raffles, who gave the animal its scientific name in 1821, did not specify what he meant by the use of this word.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, M. fascicularis and other macaque species are known generically as kera, possibly because of their high-pitched cries.

The crab-eating macaque has several common names. It is often referred to as the long-tailed macaque due to its tail, which is often longer than its body. The name crab-eating macaque refers to its being often seen foraging beaches for crabs. Another common name for M. fascicularis is the cynomolgus monkey, from the name of a race of humans with long hair and handsome beards who used dogs for hunting according to Aristophanes of Byzantium, who seemingly derived the etymology of the word cynomolgus from the Greek κύων, cyon: dog (Gen. cyno-s) and the verb ἀμέλγειν, amelgein: to milk (Adj. amolg-os), by claiming that they milked female dogs. This name is commonly used in laboratory settings.

In Thailand, the species is called "ลิงแสม" (Ling s̄æm; lit: "Mangrove monkeys") because it lives and forages in mangrove forests.

The body length of the adult, which varies among subspecies, is 38–55 cm (15–22 in) with relatively short arms and legs. Males are considerably larger than females, weighing 5–9 kg (11–20 lb) compared to the 3–6 kg (6.6–13.2 lb) of females. The tail is longer than the body, typically 40–65 cm (16–26 in), which is used for balance when they jump distances up to 5 m (16 ft). The upper parts of the body are dark brown with light golden brown tips. The under parts are light grey with a dark grey/brown tail. Crab-eating macaques have backwards-directed crown hairs which sometimes form short crests on the midline. Their skin is black on their feet and ears, whereas the skin on the muzzle is a light grayish pink color. The eyelids often have prominent white markings and sometimes there are white spots on the ears. Males have a characteristic mustache and cheek whiskers, while females have only cheek whiskers. Crab-eating macaques have a cheek pouch which they use to store food while foraging. Females show no perineal swelling.

Macaques live in social groups that contain three to 20 females, their offspring, and one or many males. The groups usually have fewer males than females. In social groups of macaques, a clear dominance hierarchy is seen among females. These ranks remain stable throughout the female’s lifetime and also can be sustained through generations of matrilines. Females have their highest birth rates around 10 years of age and completely stop bearing young by age 24.

The social groups of macaques are female-bonded, meaning the males will disperse at the time of puberty. Thus, group relatedness on average appears to be lower than compared to matrilines. More difference in relatedness occurs when comparing high-ranking lineages to lower ranking lineages, with higher-ranking individuals being more closely related to one another. Additionally, groups of dispersing males born into the same social groups display a range of relatedness, at times appearing to be brothers, while at other times appearing to be unrelated.

In Thailand and Myanmar, crab-eating macaques use stone tools to open nuts, oysters, and other bivalves, and various types of sea snails (nerites, muricids, trochids, etc.) along the Andaman sea coast and offshore islands.

Another instance of tool use is washing and rubbing foods such as sweet potatoes, cassava roots, and papaya leaves before consumption. Crab-eating macaques either soak these foods in water or rub them through their hands as if to clean them. They also peel the sweet potatoes, using their incisors and canine teeth. Adolescents appear to acquire these behaviors by observational learning of older individuals.

The crab-eating macaque lives in a wide variety of habitats, including primary lowland rainforests, disturbed and secondary rainforests, shrubland, and riverine and coastal forests of nipa palm and mangrove. They also easily adjust to human settlements; they are considered sacred at some Hindu temples and on some small islands,[9] but are pests around farms and villages. Typically, they prefer disturbed habitats and forest periphery. The native range of this species includes most of mainland Southeast Asia, from extreme southeastern Bangladesh south through Malaysia, and the Maritime Southeast Asia islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, offshore islands, the islands of the Philippines, and the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. This primate is a rare example of a terrestrial mammal that violates the Wallace line.

The crab-eating macaque has the third-largest range of any primate species, behind only humans and rhesus macaques. The IUCN Red List categorizes the species as Least Concern, and CITES lists them as Appendix II ("not necessarily threatened with extinction", in which trade must be controlled to avoid use incompatible with their survival). A recent review of their populations suggests a need for better monitoring of populations due to increased wild trade and rising levels of human-macaque conflict, which are reducing overall population levels despite the species being widely distributed.

The crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), also known as the long-tailed macaque, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. It is referred to as the cynomolgus monkey in laboratories. It has a long history alongside humans; they have been alternately seen as agricultural pests, sacred animals in some temples, and more recently, the subject of medical experiments. The crab-eating macaque lives in matrilineal social groups with a female dominance hierarchy, and male members leave the group when they reach puberty. They are opportunistic omnivores and have been documented using tools to obtain food in Thailand and Myanmar. The crab-eating macaque is a known invasive species and a threat to biodiversity in several locations, including Hong Kong and western New Guinea. The significant overlap in macaque and human living space has resulted in greater habitat loss, synanthropic living, and inter- and intraspecies conflicts over resources.

Macaca comes from the Portuguese word macaco, which was derived from makaku, a Fiot (West African language) word (kaku means monkey in Fiot). The specific epithet fascicularis is Latin for a small band or stripe. Sir Thomas Raffles, who gave the animal its scientific name in 1821, did not specify what he meant by the use of this word.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, M. fascicularis and other macaque species are known generically as kera, possibly because of their high-pitched cries.

The crab-eating macaque has several common names. It is often referred to as the long-tailed macaque due to its tail, which is often longer than its body. The name crab-eating macaque refers to its being often seen foraging beaches for crabs. Another common name for M. fascicularis is the cynomolgus monkey, from the name of a race of humans with long hair and handsome beards who used dogs for hunting according to Aristophanes of Byzantium, who seemingly derived the etymology of the word cynomolgus from the Greek κύων, cyon: dog (Gen. cyno-s) and the verb ἀμέλγειν, amelgein: to milk (Adj. amolg-os), by claiming that they milked female dogs. This name is commonly used in laboratory settings.

In Thailand, the species is called "ลิงแสม" (Ling s̄æm; lit: "Mangrove monkeys") because it lives and forages in mangrove forests.

The body length of the adult, which varies among subspecies, is 38–55 cm (15–22 in) with relatively short arms and legs. Males are considerably larger than females, weighing 5–9 kg (11–20 lb) compared to the 3–6 kg (6.6–13.2 lb) of females. The tail is longer than the body, typically 40–65 cm (16–26 in), which is used for balance when they jump distances up to 5 m (16 ft). The upper parts of the body are dark brown with light golden brown tips. The under parts are light grey with a dark grey/brown tail. Crab-eating macaques have backwards-directed crown hairs which sometimes form short crests on the midline. Their skin is black on their feet and ears, whereas the skin on the muzzle is a light grayish pink color. The eyelids often have prominent white markings and sometimes there are white spots on the ears. Males have a characteristic mustache and cheek whiskers, while females have only cheek whiskers. Crab-eating macaques have a cheek pouch which they use to store food while foraging. Females show no perineal swelling.

Macaques live in social groups that contain three to 20 females, their offspring, and one or many males. The groups usually have fewer males than females. In social groups of macaques, a clear dominance hierarchy is seen among females. These ranks remain stable throughout the female’s lifetime and also can be sustained through generations of matrilines. Females have their highest birth rates around 10 years of age and completely stop bearing young by age 24.

The social groups of macaques are female-bonded, meaning the males will disperse at the time of puberty. Thus, group relatedness on average appears to be lower than compared to matrilines. More difference in relatedness occurs when comparing high-ranking lineages to lower ranking lineages, with higher-ranking individuals being more closely related to one another. Additionally, groups of dispersing males born into the same social groups display a range of relatedness, at times appearing to be brothers, while at other times appearing to be unrelated.

In Thailand and Myanmar, crab-eating macaques use stone tools to open nuts, oysters, and other bivalves, and various types of sea snails (nerites, muricids, trochids, etc.) along the Andaman sea coast and offshore islands.

Another instance of tool use is washing and rubbing foods such as sweet potatoes, cassava roots, and papaya leaves before consumption. Crab-eating macaques either soak these foods in water or rub them through their hands as if to clean them. They also peel the sweet potatoes, using their incisors and canine teeth. Adolescents appear to acquire these behaviors by observational learning of older individuals.

The crab-eating macaque lives in a wide variety of habitats, including primary lowland rainforests, disturbed and secondary rainforests, shrubland, and riverine and coastal forests of nipa palm and mangrove. They also easily adjust to human settlements; they are considered sacred at some Hindu temples and on some small islands,[9] but are pests around farms and villages. Typically, they prefer disturbed habitats and forest periphery. The native range of this species includes most of mainland Southeast Asia, from extreme southeastern Bangladesh south through Malaysia, and the Maritime Southeast Asia islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, offshore islands, the islands of the Philippines, and the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. This primate is a rare example of a terrestrial mammal that violates the Wallace line.

The crab-eating macaque has the third-largest range of any primate species, behind only humans and rhesus macaques. The IUCN Red List categorizes the species as Least Concern, and CITES lists them as Appendix II ("not necessarily threatened with extinction", in which trade must be controlled to avoid use incompatible with their survival). A recent review of their populations suggests a need for better monitoring of populations due to increased wild trade and rising levels of human-macaque conflict, which are reducing overall population levels despite the species being widely distributed.

The Sungei Buloh Landscape

Milky Stork

The milky stork (Mycteria cinerea) is a medium, almost completely white plumaged stork species found predominantly in coastal mangroves in parts of Southeast Asia.

The milky stork was formerly placed in the Ibis genus, with the binomial name Ibis cinereus, but is now categorised as belonging to Mycteria due to large similarities in appearance and behaviour to the three other storks in this genus (the wood stork, yellow-billed stork and painted stork). Phylogenetic studies based on DNA hybridization and cytochrome oxidase b have demonstrated that the milky stork shares a clade with other Mycteria, and forms a sister pair of species with the painted stork.

Adult:

This medium stork stands 91–97 cm tall, making it slightly smaller than the closely related painted stork. The adult plumage is completely white except for black flight feathers of the wing and tail, which also have a greenish gloss. Wing length measures 435–500 mm and the tail measures 145–170 mm. The extensive white portion of the plumage is completely suffused with a pale creamy yellow during the breeding season, hence the term “milky”. This creamy tint is absent from the plumage during breeding. The wing coverts and back feathers are paler and have an almost white terminal band.

The bare facial skin is greyish or dark maroon; with black, irregular blotches. During breeding, the bare facial skin is deep wine red with black markings on the lores by the bill base and gular region, with a ring of brighter red skin around the eye. Soon after courtship, the facial skin fades to paler orange-red. Breeding birds also show a narrow pinkish band of bare skin along the underside of the wing.

The downcurved bill is dull pinkish yellow and sometimes tipped white. The culmen length measures 194 – 275mm. The legs are a dull red-flesh colour, with the tarsi measuring 188 – 225mm. It has long thick toes that probably serve to increase surface area of its feet and therefore reduce pressure from standing and walking on the soft mud of its foraging area, so that the bird does not sink considerably when foraging and feeding.

During courtship, the bill turns deep yellow, with a greyish tan on the basal third; and the legs become deep magenta. The sexes are similar, but the average male is slightly larger with a longer, thinner bill.

The adult is readily recognisable in the field by its white head feathers, yellow-orange bill and pink legs. It is distinguished from other waders such as egrets and lesser adjutants by its extensively white body plumage and black wing coverts. However, the milky stork resembles and may therefore be confused with the partly sympatric Asian Openbill and various white egret species. Nevertheless, the egrets are smaller and completely white, and the Asian Openbill is also smaller and distinguished from the milky stork by the grey bill. In the northern part of its range around Vietnam, milky storks occasionally occur in sympatry with the closely related and morphologically similar painted storks. However, the painted stork is distinguished from the milky stork in adult plumage by the former’s black and white breast band and wing coverts, pink inner secondaries, more restricted bare head skin, and generally brighter soft part colouration.

Like other storks, the milky stork habitually soars on thermals to travel between areas. Flocks of up to a dozen birds can be seen soaring on thermals at great heights between 10:00 and 14:00. At breeding colonies and feeding grounds, flight is contagious in that take-off by one bird is quickly followed by others. Average flapping rate has been estimated at 205 beats per minute.

Juvenile:

At hatching, the chicks are covered with white down. Contour feathers begin to appear by 10–14 days, and the chicks become fully feathered with full plumage after 4–6 weeks. This plumage is typically pale greyish brown with a white lower back, rump and tail coverts; some white downy feathers remaining under the wings and underside of the body; black wing and tail feathers with a white and dark brown wing lining; distinct feathering on the greyish brown head, and dull yellow bare parts. After about 10 weeks when juveniles have fledged, loss of head feathers begins; and the dark, bare areas on the forehead and sides of the head around the eyes become visible. These dark bare areas are sometimes interspersed with dull orange spots. Nestlings also have a dark brownish grey bill and skin around the bill and eye.

By the age of three months, the previously feathered head is now completely bald and the dull bill has become warm yellow with a greenish yellow tip. Both features are characteristic of adults. Milky stork juveniles appear almost identical to painted stork juveniles, but are said to be distinguishable from painted stork juveniles by their paler underwing lining contrasting with the completely black flight feathers, whereas this underwing lining is completely black in painted storks.

The milky stork is usually silent during non-breeding. At nests, individuals utter a falsetto “fizz” call during the Up-Down display. The young utter a froglike croak when begging for food.

Especially in captivity in National Zoo of Malaysia, Singapore Zoo and Dusit Zoo, milky storks and painted interbred to produce hybrid offspring. These hybrids apparently vary in appearance through different combinations of milky stork and painted stork phenotypes in varying proportions. Because these hybrid juveniles are not readily distinguishable from pure-bred juveniles based on morphology, molecular methods have been used to detect possible hybrids. Compared to the parent painted stork, the adult hybrid has a pink rather than orange bill and head. Adult hybrids may also have some small black spots on the white wing and a subtle pink tinge on the feathers.

Across all ages in this species, the iris is dark brown; and the legs are pinkish, but appear white due to a covering of the birds’ excreta.

In 2008, the global population was fewer than 2200 individuals, which is a reduction from approximately 5000 in the 1980s. In Malaysia, population counts decreased steadily from over 100 individuals in 1984 to less than 10 by 2005 (by over 90%), so that the population here faces local extinction. Of the current world population estimate, there are probably about 1600 individuals in Sumatra, less than 500 on Java, and less than 100 on the southeast Asian mainland. The Cambodian population is very small, numbering 100–150 individuals; and although it may be relatively stable, rapid declines are expected if serious threats persist. Due to the substantial population declines across its range, the milky stork’s population status was elevated to Endangered from Vulnerable in 2013 by the IUCN.

Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) - In flight

The Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) is a large wading bird in the stork family. It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in South Asia and extending into Southeast Asia. Their distinctive pink tertial feathers give them their name. They forage in flocks in shallow waters along rivers or lakes. They immerse their half open beaks in water and sweep them from side to side and snap up their prey of small fish that are sensed by touch. As they wade along they also stir the water with their feet to flush hiding fish. They nest colonially in trees, often along with other waterbirds. They only sounds they produce are weak moans or bill clattering at the nest. They are not migratory and only make short distance movements in some parts of their range in response to food and for breeding. Like other storks, they are often seen soaring on thermals.

Egret & Heron

Great Egret

The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret or (in the Old World) great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret, with four subspecies found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world. It builds tree nests in colonies close to water.

Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family, Ardeidae. Traditionally classified with the storks in the Ciconiiformes, the Ardeidae are closer relatives of pelicans and belong in the Pelecaniformes instead. The great egret—unlike the typical egrets—does not belong to the genus Egretta but together with the great herons is today placed in Ardea. In the past, however, it was sometimes placed in Egretta or separated in a monotypic genus Casmerodius.

The Old World population is often referred to as the great white egret. This species is sometimes confused with the great white heron of the Caribbean, which is a white morph of the closely related great blue heron.

The scientific name comes from Latin ardea "heron", and alba, "white".

The great egret is a large heron with all-white plumage. Standing up to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall, this species can measure 80 to 104 cm (31 to 41 in) in length and have a wingspan of 131 to 170 cm (52 to 67 in). Body mass can range from 700 to 1,500 g (1.5 to 3.3 lb), with an average of around 1,000 g (2.2 lb). It is thus only slightly smaller than the great blue or grey heron (A. cinerea). Apart from size, the great egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. Differentiated from the intermediate egret (Mesophoyx intermedius) by the gape, which extends well beyond the back of the eye in case of the great egret, but ends just behind the eye in case of the intermediate egret.

It has a slow flight, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, ibises, and spoonbills, which extend their necks in flight. The great egret walks with its neck extended and wings held close. The great egret is not normally a vocal bird; it gives a low hoarse croak when disturbed, and at breeding colonies, it often gives a loud croaking cuk cuk cuk and higher-pitched squawks.

Grey Heron

The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a long-legged predatory wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern parts migrate southwards in autumn. A bird of wetland areas, it can be seen around lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes and on the sea coast. It feeds mostly on aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water or stalking its prey through the shallows.

Standing up to a metre tall, adults weigh from 1 to 2 kg (2.2 to 4.4 lb). They have a white head and neck with a broad black stripe that extends from the eye to the black crest. The body and wings are grey above and the underparts are greyish-white, with some black on the flanks. The long, sharply pointed beak is pinkish-yellow and the legs are brown.

The birds breed colonially in spring in "heronries", usually building their nests high in trees. A clutch of usually three to five bluish-green eggs is laid. Both birds incubate the eggs for a period of about 25 days, and then both feed the chicks, which fledge when seven or eight weeks old. Many juveniles do not survive their first winter, but if they do, they can expect to live for about five years.

In Ancient Egypt, the deity Bennu was depicted as a heron in New Kingdom artwork. In Ancient Rome, the heron was a bird of divination. Roast heron was once a specially-prized dish; when George Neville became Archbishop of York in 1465, four hundred herons were served to the guests.

The grey heron is a large bird, standing up to 100 cm (39 in) tall and measuring 84–102 cm (33–40 in) long with a 155–195 cm (61–77 in) wingspan.[2] The body weight can range from 1.02–2.08 kg (2.2–4.6 lb). The plumage is largely ashy-grey above, and greyish-white below with some black on the flanks. Adults have the head and neck white with a broad black supercilium that terminates in the slender, dangling crest, and bluish-black streaks on the front of the neck. The scapular feathers are elongated and the feathers at the base of the neck are also somewhat elongated. Immature birds lack the dark stripe on the head and are generally duller in appearance than adults, with a grey head and neck, and a small, dark grey crest. The pinkish-yellow beak is long, straight and powerful, and is brighter in colour in breeding adults. The iris is yellow and the legs are brown and very long.

The main call is a loud croaking "fraaank", but a variety of guttural and raucous noises are heard at the breeding colony. The male uses an advertisement call to encourage a female to join him at the nest, and both sexes use various greeting calls after a pair bond has been established. A loud, harsh "schaah" is used by the male in driving other birds from the vicinity of the nest and a soft "gogogo" expresses anxiety, as when a predator is nearby or a human walks past the colony. The chicks utter loud chattering or ticking noises.

Pink-necked Green Pigeon - Golden Hour

The pink-necked green pigeon (Treron vernans) is a bird of the Columbidae family. It is found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

Male has mostly green plumage with greyish head, pinkish nape, neck and upper breast, orange central breast and dark chestnut undertail-coverts. Female lacks the pinkish and orange plumage of the male. Juvenile of both sexes resembles female but male will soon start to show patches of adult plumage.

Habitat: Forests, mangroves, wooded areas, gardens and parks.

Ecology/Behaviour: Arboreal, seldom come to the ground except to drink.

Mudskippers are amphibious fish, presently included in the subfamily Oxudercinae, within the family Gobiidae (gobies). Recent molecular studies do not support this classification, as oxudercine gobies appear to be paraphyletic relative to amblyopine gobies (Gobiidae: Amblyopinae), thus being included in a distinct "Periophthalmus lineage", together with amblyopines. Mudskippers can be defined as oxudercine gobies that are "fully terrestrial for some portion of the daily cycle" (character 24 in Murdy, 1989). This would define the species of the genera Boleophthalmus, Periophthalmodon, Periophthalmus, and Scartelaos as "mudskippers". However, field observations of Zappa confluentus suggest that this monotypic genus should be included in the definition. These genera presently include 32 species. Mudskippers use their pectoral fins and pelvic fins to walk on land. They typically live in intertidal habitats, and exhibit unique adaptations to this environment that are not found in most intertidal fishes, which typically survive the retreat of the tide by hiding under wet seaweed or in tide pools.

Mudskippers are quite active when out of water, feeding and interacting with one another, for example, to defend their territories and court potential partners. They are found in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions, including the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic coast of Africa.

Compared with fully aquatic gobies, these specialized fish present a range of peculiar anatomical and behavioural adaptations that allow them to move effectively on land as well as in the water. As their name implies, these fish use their fins to move around in a series of skips.

Mudskippers have the ability to breathe through their skin and the lining of their mouth (the mucosa) and throat (the pharynx): This is only possible when the mudskippers are wet, limiting them to humid habitats and requiring they keep themselves moist. This mode of breathing, similar to that employed by amphibians, is known as cutaneous air breathing. Another important adaptation that aids breathing while out of water is their enlarged gill chambers, where they retain a bubble of air. These chambers close tightly when the fish is above water, due to a ventromedial valve of the gill slit, keeping the gills moist, and allowing them to function while exposed to air. Gill filaments are stiff and do not coalesce when out of water.

Digging deep burrows in soft sediments allows the fish to thermoregulate, avoid marine predators during the high tide when the fish and burrow are submerged, and lay their eggs. When the burrow is submerged, several mudskipper species maintain an air pocket inside it, which allows them to breathe in conditions of very low oxygen concentration.

The genus Periophthalmus is by far the most diverse and widespread genus of mudskipper. Eighteen species have been described. Periophthalmus argentilineatus is one of the most widespread and well-known species. It can be found in mangrove ecosystems and mudflats of East Africa and Madagascar east through the Sundarbans of Bengal, Southeast Asia to Northern Australia, southeast China, and southern Japan, to Samoa and Tonga Islands. It grows to a length of about 9.5 cm and is a carnivorous opportunist feeder. It feeds on small prey such as small crabs and other arthropods. However, a recent molecular study suggests that P. argentilineatus is in fact a complex of species, with at least three separate lineages, one in East Africa, and two in the Indo-Malayan region. Another species, Periophthalmus barbarus, is the only oxudercine goby that inhabits the coastal areas of western Africa.

The oriental pied hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) is an Indo-Malayan pied hornbill, a large canopy-dwelling bird belonging to the Bucerotidae family. Two other common names for this species are sunda pied hornbill (convexus) and Malaysian pied hornbill. The species is considered to be among the smallest and most common of the Asian hornbills. It has the largest distribution in the genus and is found in the Indian Subcontinent and throughout Southeast Asia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The oriental pied hornbill's diet includes fruit, insects and small reptiles.

The Oriental hornbill, of the family Bucerotidae, belongs to the genus Anthracoceros, which consists of five species. Species in this genus are divided into two groups, Indo-Malayan pied hornbills and black hornbills. A. albirostris is grouped under the Indo-Malayan pied hornbills, based on plumage similarities, along with the Indian pied hornbill (A. coronatus) and the Palawan hornbill (A. marchei). The black hornbills include A. malayanus and A. montani. A. albirostris can be further categorized into two subspecies, A. a. albirostris and A. a. convexus.

The oriental pied hornbill is a medium size frugivore with a head-to-tail length of 55–60 cm from head to tail and a wingspan of 23–36 cm. The bill measures 19 cm for males and 16 cm for females. It can weigh between 600 g and 1,050 g, averaging 900 g for males and 875 g for females. The plumage of the head, neck, back, wings and upper breast is black with a slight green sheen. The tail is black with white tips on all the feathers except the central feathers (rectories). The plumage of their lower breast, lower abdomen, thighs, under-wing and all the tips of the wings except the three basal secondaries and two outer primaries is white, as is the circumorbital skin around the eyes and on the throat skin. A blue tinge can sometimes be noticed on the throat of adults. Casques of mature A. albirostri are laterally flattened “cylinders”, which may form a protruding horn. Males and females are similar in coloration. Males can be distinguished from females by their larger body size, yellow bill, which has a black base, and bright red eyes. Females have a slightly smaller body size, a yellow bill and casque with a partly black, browned patched mandible, and grayish-brown eyes. Juvenile A. albirostris resemble the adults, but have an undeveloped casque and a smaller bill. Their black plumage lacks the green gloss found on adults.

The calls of the oriental pied hornbill have been described as crowlike sounds, braying sounds or harsh crackles and screeches

The oriental pied hornbill is found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Eastern and Northern India, Indonesia, Laos, North peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam and the Sunda shelf islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Within these regions, A. albirostris occupies various habitat types, which include dry and semi-evergreen forests, dry and moist deciduous forests, subtropical broadleaf forests, secondary forests, plantations and woodlands.

The species has an extremely wide range and appears to be the hornbill species most adaptable to habitat alterations; it is thus not currently considered to be threatened. What declines in oriental pied hornbill population have been reported are mainly caused by legal and illegal logging, which decreases the availability of suitable nesting and fruiting trees. A. albirostris are subject to some hunting pressure (casques are sold as souvenirs) and are popular as pets in some areas. It has also been noted that the species has been almost completely extirpated from southern China.

Conservation efforts such as captive breeding and reintroduction are currently in practice. Breeding in captivity of has so far shown a low success rate. In some areas such as Cambodia, artificial nests made from iron tanks are installed in nesting sites to provide alternative nesting sites for hornbills when natural nest-site availability is low and to aid reintroduction.

The crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), also known as the long-tailed macaque, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. It is referred to as the cynomolgus monkey in laboratories. It has a long history alongside humans; they have been alternately seen as agricultural pests, sacred animals in some temples, and more recently, the subject of medical experiments. The crab-eating macaque lives in matrilineal social groups with a female dominance hierarchy, and male members leave the group when they reach puberty. They are opportunistic omnivores and have been documented using tools to obtain food in Thailand and Myanmar. The crab-eating macaque is a known invasive species and a threat to biodiversity in several locations, including Hong Kong and western New Guinea. The significant overlap in macaque and human living space has resulted in greater habitat loss, synanthropic living, and inter- and intraspecies conflicts over resources.

Macaca comes from the Portuguese word macaco, which was derived from makaku, a Fiot (West African language) word (kaku means monkey in Fiot). The specific epithet fascicularis is Latin for a small band or stripe. Sir Thomas Raffles, who gave the animal its scientific name in 1821, did not specify what he meant by the use of this word.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, M. fascicularis and other macaque species are known generically as kera, possibly because of their high-pitched cries.

The crab-eating macaque has several common names. It is often referred to as the long-tailed macaque due to its tail, which is often longer than its body. The name crab-eating macaque refers to its being often seen foraging beaches for crabs. Another common name for M. fascicularis is the cynomolgus monkey, from the name of a race of humans with long hair and handsome beards who used dogs for hunting according to Aristophanes of Byzantium, who seemingly derived the etymology of the word cynomolgus from the Greek κύων, cyon: dog (Gen. cyno-s) and the verb ἀμέλγειν, amelgein: to milk (Adj. amolg-os), by claiming that they milked female dogs. This name is commonly used in laboratory settings.

In Thailand, the species is called "ลิงแสม" (Ling s̄æm; lit: "Mangrove monkeys") because it lives and forages in mangrove forests.

The body length of the adult, which varies among subspecies, is 38–55 cm (15–22 in) with relatively short arms and legs. Males are considerably larger than females, weighing 5–9 kg (11–20 lb) compared to the 3–6 kg (6.6–13.2 lb) of females. The tail is longer than the body, typically 40–65 cm (16–26 in), which is used for balance when they jump distances up to 5 m (16 ft). The upper parts of the body are dark brown with light golden brown tips. The under parts are light grey with a dark grey/brown tail. Crab-eating macaques have backwards-directed crown hairs which sometimes form short crests on the midline. Their skin is black on their feet and ears, whereas the skin on the muzzle is a light grayish pink color. The eyelids often have prominent white markings and sometimes there are white spots on the ears. Males have a characteristic mustache and cheek whiskers, while females have only cheek whiskers. Crab-eating macaques have a cheek pouch which they use to store food while foraging. Females show no perineal swelling.

Macaques live in social groups that contain three to 20 females, their offspring, and one or many males. The groups usually have fewer males than females. In social groups of macaques, a clear dominance hierarchy is seen among females. These ranks remain stable throughout the female’s lifetime and also can be sustained through generations of matrilines. Females have their highest birth rates around 10 years of age and completely stop bearing young by age 24.

The social groups of macaques are female-bonded, meaning the males will disperse at the time of puberty. Thus, group relatedness on average appears to be lower than compared to matrilines. More difference in relatedness occurs when comparing high-ranking lineages to lower ranking lineages, with higher-ranking individuals being more closely related to one another. Additionally, groups of dispersing males born into the same social groups display a range of relatedness, at times appearing to be brothers, while at other times appearing to be unrelated.

In Thailand and Myanmar, crab-eating macaques use stone tools to open nuts, oysters, and other bivalves, and various types of sea snails (nerites, muricids, trochids, etc.) along the Andaman sea coast and offshore islands.

Another instance of tool use is washing and rubbing foods such as sweet potatoes, cassava roots, and papaya leaves before consumption. Crab-eating macaques either soak these foods in water or rub them through their hands as if to clean them. They also peel the sweet potatoes, using their incisors and canine teeth. Adolescents appear to acquire these behaviors by observational learning of older individuals.

The crab-eating macaque lives in a wide variety of habitats, including primary lowland rainforests, disturbed and secondary rainforests, shrubland, and riverine and coastal forests of nipa palm and mangrove. They also easily adjust to human settlements; they are considered sacred at some Hindu temples and on some small islands,[9] but are pests around farms and villages. Typically, they prefer disturbed habitats and forest periphery. The native range of this species includes most of mainland Southeast Asia, from extreme southeastern Bangladesh south through Malaysia, and the Maritime Southeast Asia islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, offshore islands, the islands of the Philippines, and the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. This primate is a rare example of a terrestrial mammal that violates the Wallace line.

The crab-eating macaque has the third-largest range of any primate species, behind only humans and rhesus macaques. The IUCN Red List categorizes the species as Least Concern, and CITES lists them as Appendix II ("not necessarily threatened with extinction", in which trade must be controlled to avoid use incompatible with their survival). A recent review of their populations suggests a need for better monitoring of populations due to increased wild trade and rising levels of human-macaque conflict, which are reducing overall population levels despite the species being widely distributed.

Common Redshank

The common redshank or simply redshank (Tringa totanus) is a Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae. The genus name Tringa is the New Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific totanus is from Tótano, the Italian name for this bird.

Common redshanks in breeding plumage are a marbled brown color, slightly lighter below. In winter plumage they become somewhat lighter-toned and less patterned, being rather plain greyish-brown above and whitish below. They have red legs and a black-tipped red bill, and show white up the back and on the wings in flight.

The spotted redshank (T. erythropus), which breeds in the Arctic, has a longer bill and legs; it is almost entirely black in breeding plumage and very pale in winter. It is not a particularly close relative of the common redshank, but rather belongs to a high-latitude lineage of largish shanks. T. totanus on the other hand is closely related to the marsh sandpiper (T. stagnatilis), and closer still to the small wood sandpiper (T. glareola). The ancestors of the latter and the common redshank seem to have diverged around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, about 5–6 million years ago. These three subarctic- to temperate-region species form a group of smallish shanks with have red or yellowish legs, and in breeding plumage are generally a subdued light brown above with some darker mottling, and have somewhat diffuse small brownish spots on the breast and neck.

The common redshank is a widespread breeding bird across temperate Eurasia. It is a migratory species, wintering on coasts around the Mediterranean, on the Atlantic coast of Europe from Ireland and Great Britain southwards, and in South Asia. They are uncommon vagrants outside these areas; on Palau in Micronesia for example, the species was recorded in the mid-1970s and in 2000.

They are wary and noisy birds which will alert everything else with their loud piping call. Like most waders, they feed on small invertebrates. Redshanks will nest in any wetland, from damp meadows to saltmarsh, often at high densities. They lay 3–5 eggs.

The common redshank is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

It is widely distributed and quite plentiful in some regions, and thus not considered a threatened species by the IUCN.

Great Egret

The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret or (in the Old World) great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret, with four subspecies found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world. It builds tree nests in colonies close to water.

Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family, Ardeidae. Traditionally classified with the storks in the Ciconiiformes, the Ardeidae are closer relatives of pelicans and belong in the Pelecaniformes instead. The great egret—unlike the typical egrets—does not belong to the genus Egretta but together with the great herons is today placed in Ardea. In the past, however, it was sometimes placed in Egretta or separated in a monotypic genus Casmerodius.

The Old World population is often referred to as the great white egret. This species is sometimes confused with the great white heron of the Caribbean, which is a white morph of the closely related great blue heron.

The scientific name comes from Latin ardea "heron", and alba, "white".

The great egret is a large heron with all-white plumage. Standing up to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall, this species can measure 80 to 104 cm (31 to 41 in) in length and have a wingspan of 131 to 170 cm (52 to 67 in). Body mass can range from 700 to 1,500 g (1.5 to 3.3 lb), with an average of around 1,000 g (2.2 lb). It is thus only slightly smaller than the great blue or grey heron (A. cinerea). Apart from size, the great egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. Differentiated from the intermediate egret (Mesophoyx intermedius) by the gape, which extends well beyond the back of the eye in case of the great egret, but ends just behind the eye in case of the intermediate egret.

It has a slow flight, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, ibises, and spoonbills, which extend their necks in flight. The great egret walks with its neck extended and wings held close. The great egret is not normally a vocal bird; it gives a low hoarse croak when disturbed, and at breeding colonies, it often gives a loud croaking cuk cuk cuk and higher-pitched squawks.

Collared Kingfisher

The collared kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) is a medium-sized kingfisher belonging to the subfamily Halcyoninae, the tree kingfishers. It is also known as the white-collared kingfisher or mangrove kingfisher. It has a wide range extending from the Red Sea across southern Asia to Polynesia. A number of subspecies and subspecies groups have been split from this species including the Pacific kingfisher, the islet kingfisher, the Torresian kingfisher, the Mariana kingfisher, and the Melanesian kingfisher.

The collared kingfisher was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux in 1780. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle. This was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Alcedo chloris in his catalogue of the Planche Enluminées. The type locality is the island of Buru within Indonesia. The current genus Todiramphus was introduced by the French surgeon and naturalist René Lesson in 1827. The specific epithet chloris is modern Latin for "green" or "greenish".

The collared kingfisher is 22 to 29 cm (8.7 to 11.4 in) long and weighs 51 to 90 g (1.8 to 3.2 oz). It varies from blue to green above while the underparts can be white or buff. There is a white collar around the neck, giving the birds its name. Some races have a white or buff stripe over the eye while others have a white spot between the eye and bill. There may be a black stripe through the eye. The large bill is black with a pale yellow base to the lower mandible. Females tend to be greener than the males. Immature birds are duller than the adults with dark scaly markings on the neck and breast.

It has a variety of calls which vary geographically. The most typical call is loud, harsh and metallic and is repeated several times.

It is most commonly found in coastal areas, particularly in mangrove swamps. It also inhabits farmland, open woodland, grassland and gardens. In some parts of its range, especially on islands, it can be seen further inland, ranging into forest or into mountain areas. Birds often perch conspicuously on wires, rocks or bare branches.

The most subspecies that occurs furthest west in the Eurasian/African landmass is T. c. abyssinica of north-east Africa which is found in patches of mangroves in Eritrea and has also been recorded from Sudan and Somalia. Further east in Arabia is the endangered race T. c. kalbaensis with a population of 55 pairs or fewer; these are almost entirely restricted to Khor Kalba in the United Arab Emirates but breeding has also occurred recently at Khor Shinass in Oman. Further subspecies occur locally around the coasts of India and Bangladesh and on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In Southeast Asia and Indonesia the species is widespread and common, occurring far inland in some regions.

Small crabs are the favoured food in coastal regions but a wide variety of other animals are eaten including insects, worms, snails, shrimps, frogs, lizards, small fish and sometimes other small birds as well. The bird perches almost motionless for long periods waiting for prey. When it spots something it glides down to catch it and then flies back to the perch where larger items are pounded against the branch to subdue them. Any indigestible remains are regurgitated as pellets.

The nest is a hole, either a natural tree hole or a burrow excavated by the birds themselves in a rotten tree, termite mound or earth bank. They will also occupy old woodpecker holes. Two to seven rounded whitish eggs are laid directly on the floor of the burrow with no nest material used. Both parents take part in incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks. The young birds leave the nest about 44 days after hatching. Two broods are often raised in a year.

Great Egret, flying through Greenshank traffic

The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret or (in the Old World) great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret, with four subspecies found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world. It builds tree nests in colonies close to water.

Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family, Ardeidae. Traditionally classified with the storks in the Ciconiiformes, the Ardeidae are closer relatives of pelicans and belong in the Pelecaniformes instead. The great egret—unlike the typical egrets—does not belong to the genus Egretta but together with the great herons is today placed in Ardea. In the past, however, it was sometimes placed in Egretta or separated in a monotypic genus Casmerodius.

The Old World population is often referred to as the great white egret. This species is sometimes confused with the great white heron of the Caribbean, which is a white morph of the closely related great blue heron.

The scientific name comes from Latin ardea "heron", and alba, "white".

The great egret is a large heron with all-white plumage. Standing up to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall, this species can measure 80 to 104 cm (31 to 41 in) in length and have a wingspan of 131 to 170 cm (52 to 67 in). Body mass can range from 700 to 1,500 g (1.5 to 3.3 lb), with an average of around 1,000 g (2.2 lb). It is thus only slightly smaller than the great blue or grey heron (A. cinerea). Apart from size, the great egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. Differentiated from the intermediate egret (Mesophoyx intermedius) by the gape, which extends well beyond the back of the eye in case of the great egret, but ends just behind the eye in case of the intermediate egret.

It has a slow flight, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, ibises, and spoonbills, which extend their necks in flight. The great egret walks with its neck extended and wings held close. The great egret is not normally a vocal bird; it gives a low hoarse croak when disturbed, and at breeding colonies, it often gives a loud croaking cuk cuk cuk and higher-pitched squawks.

Brahminy Kite/ Red-Backed Sea Eagle

The brahminy kite (Haliastur indus), also known as the red-backed sea-eagle in Australia, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. They are found in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Australia. They are found mainly on the coast and in inland wetlands where they feed on dead fish and other prey. Adults have a reddish-brown plumage and a contrasting white head and breast which makes them easy to distinguish from other birds of prey.

The brahminy kite is distinctive and contrastingly coloured, with chestnut plumage except for the white head and breast and black wing tips. The juveniles are browner, but can be distinguished from both the resident and migratory races of black kites in Asia by the paler appearance, shorter wings, and rounded tail. The pale patch on the underwing carpal region is of a squarish shape and separated from Buteo buzzards.

The brahminy kite is about the same size as the black kite (Milvus migrans) and has a typical kite flight, with wings angled, but its tail is rounded unlike the Milvus species, red kite, and black kite, which have forked tails. The two genera are however very close.

The call is a mewing keeyew.

This kite is a familiar sight in the skies of Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and southeast Asia and as far south as New South Wales, Australia, through which region it is widespread and resident. They perform seasonal movements associated with rainfall in some parts of their range.

They are mainly seen in the plains but can sometimes occur above 5000 feet in the Himalayas.

It is evaluated as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However the species is on the decline in some parts such as Java.

The collared kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) is a medium-sized kingfisher belonging to the subfamily Halcyoninae, the tree kingfishers. It is also known as the white-collared kingfisher or mangrove kingfisher. It has a wide range extending from the Red Sea across southern Asia to Polynesia. A number of subspecies and subspecies groups have been split from this species including the Pacific kingfisher, the islet kingfisher, the Torresian kingfisher, the Mariana kingfisher, and the Melanesian kingfisher.

The collared kingfisher was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux in 1780. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle. This was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Alcedo chloris in his catalogue of the Planche Enluminées. The type locality is the island of Buru within Indonesia. The current genus Todiramphus was introduced by the French surgeon and naturalist René Lesson in 1827. The specific epithet chloris is modern Latin for "green" or "greenish".

The collared kingfisher is 22 to 29 cm (8.7 to 11.4 in) long and weighs 51 to 90 g (1.8 to 3.2 oz). It varies from blue to green above while the underparts can be white or buff. There is a white collar around the neck, giving the birds its name. Some races have a white or buff stripe over the eye while others have a white spot between the eye and bill. There may be a black stripe through the eye. The large bill is black with a pale yellow base to the lower mandible. Females tend to be greener than the males. Immature birds are duller than the adults with dark scaly markings on the neck and breast.

It has a variety of calls which vary geographically. The most typical call is loud, harsh and metallic and is repeated several times.

It is most commonly found in coastal areas, particularly in mangrove swamps. It also inhabits farmland, open woodland, grassland and gardens. In some parts of its range, especially on islands, it can be seen further inland, ranging into forest or into mountain areas. Birds often perch conspicuously on wires, rocks or bare branches.

The most subspecies that occurs furthest west in the Eurasian/African landmass is T. c. abyssinica of north-east Africa which is found in patches of mangroves in Eritrea and has also been recorded from Sudan and Somalia. Further east in Arabia is the endangered race T. c. kalbaensis with a population of 55 pairs or fewer; these are almost entirely restricted to Khor Kalba in the United Arab Emirates but breeding has also occurred recently at Khor Shinass in Oman. Further subspecies occur locally around the coasts of India and Bangladesh and on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In Southeast Asia and Indonesia the species is widespread and common, occurring far inland in some regions.

Small crabs are the favoured food in coastal regions but a wide variety of other animals are eaten including insects, worms, snails, shrimps, frogs, lizards, small fish and sometimes other small birds as well. The bird perches almost motionless for long periods waiting for prey. When it spots something it glides down to catch it and then flies back to the perch where larger items are pounded against the branch to subdue them. Any indigestible remains are regurgitated as pellets.

The nest is a hole, either a natural tree hole or a burrow excavated by the birds themselves in a rotten tree, termite mound or earth bank. They will also occupy old woodpecker holes. Two to seven rounded whitish eggs are laid directly on the floor of the burrow with no nest material used. Both parents take part in incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks. The young birds leave the nest about 44 days after hatching. Two broods are often raised in a year.

Ashy tailorbird

The ashy tailorbird (Orthotomus ruficeps) is a species of bird formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, it but now placed in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.

Brahminy Kite/ Red-Backed Sea Eagle

The brahminy kite (Haliastur indus), also known as the red-backed sea-eagle in Australia, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. They are found in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Australia. They are found mainly on the coast and in inland wetlands where they feed on dead fish and other prey. Adults have a reddish-brown plumage and a contrasting white head and breast which makes them easy to distinguish from other birds of prey.

The brahminy kite is distinctive and contrastingly coloured, with chestnut plumage except for the white head and breast and black wing tips. The juveniles are browner, but can be distinguished from both the resident and migratory races of black kites in Asia by the paler appearance, shorter wings, and rounded tail. The pale patch on the underwing carpal region is of a squarish shape and separated from Buteo buzzards.

The brahminy kite is about the same size as the black kite (Milvus migrans) and has a typical kite flight, with wings angled, but its tail is rounded unlike the Milvus species, red kite, and black kite, which have forked tails. The two genera are however very close.

The call is a mewing keeyew.

This kite is a familiar sight in the skies of Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and southeast Asia and as far south as New South Wales, Australia, through which region it is widespread and resident. They perform seasonal movements associated with rainfall in some parts of their range.

They are mainly seen in the plains but can sometimes occur above 5000 feet in the Himalayas.

It is evaluated as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However the species is on the decline in some parts such as Java.

The oriental pied hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) is an Indo-Malayan pied hornbill, a large canopy-dwelling bird belonging to the Bucerotidae family. Two other common names for this species are sunda pied hornbill (convexus) and Malaysian pied hornbill. The species is considered to be among the smallest and most common of the Asian hornbills. It has the largest distribution in the genus and is found in the Indian Subcontinent and throughout Southeast Asia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The oriental pied hornbill's diet includes fruit, insects and small reptiles.

The Oriental hornbill, of the family Bucerotidae, belongs to the genus Anthracoceros, which consists of five species. Species in this genus are divided into two groups, Indo-Malayan pied hornbills and black hornbills. A. albirostris is grouped under the Indo-Malayan pied hornbills, based on plumage similarities, along with the Indian pied hornbill (A. coronatus) and the Palawan hornbill (A. marchei). The black hornbills include A. malayanus and A. montani. A. albirostris can be further categorized into two subspecies, A. a. albirostris and A. a. convexus.

The oriental pied hornbill is a medium size frugivore with a head-to-tail length of 55–60 cm from head to tail and a wingspan of 23–36 cm. The bill measures 19 cm for males and 16 cm for females. It can weigh between 600 g and 1,050 g, averaging 900 g for males and 875 g for females. The plumage of the head, neck, back, wings and upper breast is black with a slight green sheen. The tail is black with white tips on all the feathers except the central feathers (rectories). The plumage of their lower breast, lower abdomen, thighs, under-wing and all the tips of the wings except the three basal secondaries and two outer primaries is white, as is the circumorbital skin around the eyes and on the throat skin. A blue tinge can sometimes be noticed on the throat of adults. Casques of mature A. albirostri are laterally flattened “cylinders”, which may form a protruding horn. Males and females are similar in coloration. Males can be distinguished from females by their larger body size, yellow bill, which has a black base, and bright red eyes. Females have a slightly smaller body size, a yellow bill and casque with a partly black, browned patched mandible, and grayish-brown eyes. Juvenile A. albirostris resemble the adults, but have an undeveloped casque and a smaller bill. Their black plumage lacks the green gloss found on adults.

The calls of the oriental pied hornbill have been described as crowlike sounds, braying sounds or harsh crackles and screeches

The oriental pied hornbill is found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Eastern and Northern India, Indonesia, Laos, North peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam and the Sunda shelf islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Within these regions, A. albirostris occupies various habitat types, which include dry and semi-evergreen forests, dry and moist deciduous forests, subtropical broadleaf forests, secondary forests, plantations and woodlands.

The species has an extremely wide range and appears to be the hornbill species most adaptable to habitat alterations; it is thus not currently considered to be threatened. What declines in oriental pied hornbill population have been reported are mainly caused by legal and illegal logging, which decreases the availability of suitable nesting and fruiting trees. A. albirostris are subject to some hunting pressure (casques are sold as souvenirs) and are popular as pets in some areas. It has also been noted that the species has been almost completely extirpated from southern China.

Conservation efforts such as captive breeding and reintroduction are currently in practice. Breeding in captivity of has so far shown a low success rate. In some areas such as Cambodia, artificial nests made from iron tanks are installed in nesting sites to provide alternative nesting sites for hornbills when natural nest-site availability is low and to aid reintroduction.

!

On a recent outing to Bishan Park with my kids, we stopped by the river to observe the fishes for a while. This opportunistic chap, marched right up to us and posed nonchalantly for some photos. This is probably the only occasion I can think of when I photographed a bird with an ultra-wide 24mm focal length and still having the subject filling the frame.

Dang! I could have patted it on it head by stretching out my hand. Being able to frame Bishan's iconic red brick design flats in the background was an added bonus. Many of you would know that I have a thing for juxtaposing birds or wildlife with Singapore's renowned Housing & Development Board's public housing.

You might wonder why I say it is opportunistic, my guess is that it has learnt that parkgoers come to the river to feed the fish. This makes it easy for it to hunt or perhaps even retrieving the food item to use as bait for hunting.

#EOSR6 #RSystemExperience #CanonImagingAsia #CanonAsia #CanonSingapore #CanonSG #HDB #BishanPark #BishanAngMoKioPark #GreyHeron #UniquelySingapore #NParks #NParksBuzz

Grey Heron

Bishan Park

November 2022

The oriental pied hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) is an Indo-Malayan pied hornbill, a large canopy-dwelling bird belonging to the Bucerotidae family. Two other common names for this species are sunda pied hornbill (convexus) and Malaysian pied hornbill. The species is considered to be among the smallest and most common of the Asian hornbills. It has the largest distribution in the genus and is found in the Indian Subcontinent and throughout Southeast Asia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The oriental pied hornbill's diet includes fruit, insects and small reptiles.

The Oriental hornbill, of the family Bucerotidae, belongs to the genus Anthracoceros, which consists of five species. Species in this genus are divided into two groups, Indo-Malayan pied hornbills and black hornbills. A. albirostris is grouped under the Indo-Malayan pied hornbills, based on plumage similarities, along with the Indian pied hornbill (A. coronatus) and the Palawan hornbill (A. marchei). The black hornbills include A. malayanus and A. montani. A. albirostris can be further categorized into two subspecies, A. a. albirostris and A. a. convexus.

The oriental pied hornbill is a medium size frugivore with a head-to-tail length of 55–60 cm from head to tail and a wingspan of 23–36 cm. The bill measures 19 cm for males and 16 cm for females. It can weigh between 600 g and 1,050 g, averaging 900 g for males and 875 g for females. The plumage of the head, neck, back, wings and upper breast is black with a slight green sheen. The tail is black with white tips on all the feathers except the central feathers (rectories). The plumage of their lower breast, lower abdomen, thighs, under-wing and all the tips of the wings except the three basal secondaries and two outer primaries is white, as is the circumorbital skin around the eyes and on the throat skin. A blue tinge can sometimes be noticed on the throat of adults. Casques of mature A. albirostri are laterally flattened “cylinders”, which may form a protruding horn. Males and females are similar in coloration. Males can be distinguished from females by their larger body size, yellow bill, which has a black base, and bright red eyes. Females have a slightly smaller body size, a yellow bill and casque with a partly black, browned patched mandible, and grayish-brown eyes. Juvenile A. albirostris resemble the adults, but have an undeveloped casque and a smaller bill. Their black plumage lacks the green gloss found on adults.

The calls of the oriental pied hornbill have been described as crowlike sounds, braying sounds or harsh crackles and screeches

The oriental pied hornbill is found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Eastern and Northern India, Indonesia, Laos, North peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam and the Sunda shelf islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Within these regions, A. albirostris occupies various habitat types, which include dry and semi-evergreen forests, dry and moist deciduous forests, subtropical broadleaf forests, secondary forests, plantations and woodlands.

The species has an extremely wide range and appears to be the hornbill species most adaptable to habitat alterations; it is thus not currently considered to be threatened. What declines in oriental pied hornbill population have been reported are mainly caused by legal and illegal logging, which decreases the availability of suitable nesting and fruiting trees. A. albirostris are subject to some hunting pressure (casques are sold as souvenirs) and are popular as pets in some areas. It has also been noted that the species has been almost completely extirpated from southern China.

Conservation efforts such as captive breeding and reintroduction are currently in practice. Breeding in captivity of has so far shown a low success rate. In some areas such as Cambodia, artificial nests made from iron tanks are installed in nesting sites to provide alternative nesting sites for hornbills when natural nest-site availability is low and to aid reintroduction.

The oriental pied hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) is an Indo-Malayan pied hornbill, a large canopy-dwelling bird belonging to the Bucerotidae family. Two other common names for this species are sunda pied hornbill (convexus) and Malaysian pied hornbill. The species is considered to be among the smallest and most common of the Asian hornbills. It has the largest distribution in the genus and is found in the Indian Subcontinent and throughout Southeast Asia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The oriental pied hornbill's diet includes fruit, insects and small reptiles.

The Oriental hornbill, of the family Bucerotidae, belongs to the genus Anthracoceros, which consists of five species. Species in this genus are divided into two groups, Indo-Malayan pied hornbills and black hornbills. A. albirostris is grouped under the Indo-Malayan pied hornbills, based on plumage similarities, along with the Indian pied hornbill (A. coronatus) and the Palawan hornbill (A. marchei). The black hornbills include A. malayanus and A. montani. A. albirostris can be further categorized into two subspecies, A. a. albirostris and A. a. convexus.

The oriental pied hornbill is a medium size frugivore with a head-to-tail length of 55–60 cm from head to tail and a wingspan of 23–36 cm. The bill measures 19 cm for males and 16 cm for females. It can weigh between 600 g and 1,050 g, averaging 900 g for males and 875 g for females. The plumage of the head, neck, back, wings and upper breast is black with a slight green sheen. The tail is black with white tips on all the feathers except the central feathers (rectories). The plumage of their lower breast, lower abdomen, thighs, under-wing and all the tips of the wings except the three basal secondaries and two outer primaries is white, as is the circumorbital skin around the eyes and on the throat skin. A blue tinge can sometimes be noticed on the throat of adults. Casques of mature A. albirostri are laterally flattened “cylinders”, which may form a protruding horn. Males and females are similar in coloration. Males can be distinguished from females by their larger body size, yellow bill, which has a black base, and bright red eyes. Females have a slightly smaller body size, a yellow bill and casque with a partly black, browned patched mandible, and grayish-brown eyes. Juvenile A. albirostris resemble the adults, but have an undeveloped casque and a smaller bill. Their black plumage lacks the green gloss found on adults.

The calls of the oriental pied hornbill have been described as crowlike sounds, braying sounds or harsh crackles and screeches

The oriental pied hornbill is found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Eastern and Northern India, Indonesia, Laos, North peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam and the Sunda shelf islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Within these regions, A. albirostris occupies various habitat types, which include dry and semi-evergreen forests, dry and moist deciduous forests, subtropical broadleaf forests, secondary forests, plantations and woodlands.

The species has an extremely wide range and appears to be the hornbill species most adaptable to habitat alterations; it is thus not currently considered to be threatened. What declines in oriental pied hornbill population have been reported are mainly caused by legal and illegal logging, which decreases the availability of suitable nesting and fruiting trees. A. albirostris are subject to some hunting pressure (casques are sold as souvenirs) and are popular as pets in some areas. It has also been noted that the species has been almost completely extirpated from southern China.

Conservation efforts such as captive breeding and reintroduction are currently in practice. Breeding in captivity of has so far shown a low success rate. In some areas such as Cambodia, artificial nests made from iron tanks are installed in nesting sites to provide alternative nesting sites for hornbills when natural nest-site availability is low and to aid reintroduction.

White-Breasted Waterhen

The white-breasted waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) is a waterbird of the rail and crake family, Rallidae, that is widely distributed across Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. They are dark slaty birds with a clean white face, breast and belly. They are somewhat bolder than most other rails and are often seen stepping slowly with their tail cocked upright in open marshes or even drains near busy roads. They are largely crepuscular in activity and during the breeding season, just after the first rains, make loud and repetitive croaking calls.

Adult white-breasted waterhens have mainly dark grey upperparts and flanks, and a white face, neck and breast. The lower belly and undertail are cinnamon coloured. The body is flattened laterally to allow easier passage through the reeds or undergrowth. They have long toes, a short tail and a yellow bill and legs. Sexes are similar but females measure slightly smaller. Immature birds are much duller versions of the adults. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails.

Several subspecies are named for the populations that are widely distributed. The nominate subspecies is described from Sri Lanka but is often widened to include chinensis of mainland India and adjoining regions in Asia, west to Arabia and east nearly to Japan. The remaining subspecies are those from islands and include insularis of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, midnicobaricus of the central Nicobars, leucocephala of Car Nicobar, maldivus of the Maldives, javanicus of Java and leucomelanus of Sulawesi and the Lesser Sundas.

Their breeding habitat is marshes across south Asia from Pakistan, Maldives, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka to south China, Philippines, and Indonesia. They are mainly seen in the plains but have been known from the higher hills such as in Nainital (1300m) and the High Range (1500m) in Kerala. These large 32 cm long rails are permanent residents throughout their range. They make short distance movements and are known to colonize new areas. They have been noted as some of the early colonizers on the volcanic island of Rakata. Although most often found near freshwater, they are also found near brackish water and even the seashore when there is no freshwater as on the volcanic Barren Island in the Andamans.

These birds are usually seen singly or in pairs as they forage slowly along the edge of a waterbody mainly on the ground but sometimes clambering up low vegetation. The tail is held up and jerked as they walk. They probe with their bill in mud or shallow water, also picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects (large numbers of beetles have been recorded), small fish (which are often carefully washed in water), aquatic invertebrates and grains or seeds such as those of Pithecolobium dulce. They may sometimes feed in deeper water in the manner of a moorhen.

The nesting season is mainly June to October but varies locally. They nest in a dry location on the ground in marsh vegetation, laying 6-7 eggs. Courtship involves bowing, billing and nibbling. The eggs hatch in about 19 days. Both sexes incubate the eggs and take care of the chicks. Chicks often dive underwater to escape predation. Adults are said to build a roost or brood nest where young chicks and the adults roost.

Many rails are very secretive, but white-breasted waterhens are often seen out in the open. They can be noisy especially at dawn and dusk, with loud croaky calls. The Andamans population insularis is said to make duck like quack calls

Brahminy Kite/ Red-Backed Sea Eagle

The brahminy kite (Haliastur indus), also known as the red-backed sea-eagle in Australia, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. They are found in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Australia. They are found mainly on the coast and in inland wetlands where they feed on dead fish and other prey. Adults have a reddish-brown plumage and a contrasting white head and breast which makes them easy to distinguish from other birds of prey.

The brahminy kite is distinctive and contrastingly coloured, with chestnut plumage except for the white head and breast and black wing tips. The juveniles are browner, but can be distinguished from both the resident and migratory races of black kites in Asia by the paler appearance, shorter wings, and rounded tail. The pale patch on the underwing carpal region is of a squarish shape and separated from Buteo buzzards.

The brahminy kite is about the same size as the black kite (Milvus migrans) and has a typical kite flight, with wings angled, but its tail is rounded unlike the Milvus species, red kite, and black kite, which have forked tails. The two genera are however very close.

The call is a mewing keeyew.

This kite is a familiar sight in the skies of Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and southeast Asia and as far south as New South Wales, Australia, through which region it is widespread and resident. They perform seasonal movements associated with rainfall in some parts of their range.

They are mainly seen in the plains but can sometimes occur above 5000 feet in the Himalayas.

It is evaluated as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However the species is on the decline in some parts such as Java.

Great Egret

The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret or (in the Old World) great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret, with four subspecies found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world. It builds tree nests in colonies close to water.

Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family, Ardeidae. Traditionally classified with the storks in the Ciconiiformes, the Ardeidae are closer relatives of pelicans and belong in the Pelecaniformes instead. The great egret—unlike the typical egrets—does not belong to the genus Egretta but together with the great herons is today placed in Ardea. In the past, however, it was sometimes placed in Egretta or separated in a monotypic genus Casmerodius.

The Old World population is often referred to as the great white egret. This species is sometimes confused with the great white heron of the Caribbean, which is a white morph of the closely related great blue heron.

The scientific name comes from Latin ardea "heron", and alba, "white".

The great egret is a large heron with all-white plumage. Standing up to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall, this species can measure 80 to 104 cm (31 to 41 in) in length and have a wingspan of 131 to 170 cm (52 to 67 in). Body mass can range from 700 to 1,500 g (1.5 to 3.3 lb), with an average of around 1,000 g (2.2 lb). It is thus only slightly smaller than the great blue or grey heron (A. cinerea). Apart from size, the great egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. Differentiated from the intermediate egret (Mesophoyx intermedius) by the gape, which extends well beyond the back of the eye in case of the great egret, but ends just behind the eye in case of the intermediate egret.

It has a slow flight, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, ibises, and spoonbills, which extend their necks in flight. The great egret walks with its neck extended and wings held close. The great egret is not normally a vocal bird; it gives a low hoarse croak when disturbed, and at breeding colonies, it often gives a loud croaking cuk cuk cuk and higher-pitched squawks.

Journey into a World of Colours

21 July to 3 August 2018

Great Egret

The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret or (in the Old World) great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret, with four subspecies found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world. It builds tree nests in colonies close to water.

Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family, Ardeidae. Traditionally classified with the storks in the Ciconiiformes, the Ardeidae are closer relatives of pelicans and belong in the Pelecaniformes instead. The great egret—unlike the typical egrets—does not belong to the genus Egretta but together with the great herons is today placed in Ardea. In the past, however, it was sometimes placed in Egretta or separated in a monotypic genus Casmerodius.

The Old World population is often referred to as the great white egret. This species is sometimes confused with the great white heron of the Caribbean, which is a white morph of the closely related great blue heron.

The scientific name comes from Latin ardea "heron", and alba, "white".

The great egret is a large heron with all-white plumage. Standing up to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall, this species can measure 80 to 104 cm (31 to 41 in) in length and have a wingspan of 131 to 170 cm (52 to 67 in). Body mass can range from 700 to 1,500 g (1.5 to 3.3 lb), with an average of around 1,000 g (2.2 lb). It is thus only slightly smaller than the great blue or grey heron (A. cinerea). Apart from size, the great egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. Differentiated from the intermediate egret (Mesophoyx intermedius) by the gape, which extends well beyond the back of the eye in case of the great egret, but ends just behind the eye in case of the intermediate egret.

It has a slow flight, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, ibises, and spoonbills, which extend their necks in flight. The great egret walks with its neck extended and wings held close. The great egret is not normally a vocal bird; it gives a low hoarse croak when disturbed, and at breeding colonies, it often gives a loud croaking cuk cuk cuk and higher-pitched squawks.

Common Greenshank

The common greenshank (Tringa nebularia) is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae, the typical waders. The genus name Tringa is the New Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific nebularia is from Latin nebula "mist". Like the Norwegian Skoddefoll, this refers to the greenshank's damp marshy habitat.

Its closest relative is the greater yellowlegs, which together with the spotted redshank form a close-knit group. Among them, these three species show all the basic leg and foot colours found in the shanks, demonstrating that this character is paraphyletic. They are also the largest shanks apart from the willet, which is altogether more robustly built. The greater yellowlegs and the common greenshank share a coarse, dark, and fairly crisp breast pattern as well as much black on the shoulders and back in breeding plumage.

This is a subarctic bird, breeding from northern Scotland eastwards across northern Europe and Asia. It is a migratory species, wintering in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Australasia, usually on fresh water. It breeds on dry ground near marshy areas, laying about four eggs in a ground scrape.

Common greenshanks are brown in breeding plumage, and grey-brown in winter. When in water, they can appear very similar to marsh sandpipers but are distinguished by the shape of the lower bill which gives it an upturned appearance to the bill. They have long greenish legs and a long bill with a grey base. They show a white wedge on the back in flight. They are somewhat larger than the related common redshank. The usual call is a rapid series of three short fluty notes syllabilized as teu-teu-teu.

Like most waders, they feed on small invertebrates, but will also take small fish and amphibians.

The common greenshank is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Snowy Egret

The snowy egret (Egretta thula) is a small white heron. The genus name comes from the Provençal French for the little egret aigrette, a diminutive of aigron, "heron". The species name thula is the Araucano for the Black-necked Swan, applied to this species in error by Chilean naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782.

The snowy egret is the American counterpart to the very similar Old World little egret, which has established a foothold in the Bahamas. At one time, the beautiful plumes of the snowy egret were in great demand by market hunters as decorations for women's hats. This reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels.[citation needed] Now protected in the United States by law, under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, this bird's population has rebounded.

Adults are typically 61 cm (24 in) long and weigh 375 g (0.827 lb) They have a slim black bill and long black legs with yellow feet. The area of the upper bill, in front of the eyes, is yellow but turns red during the breeding season, when the adults also gain recurved plumes on the back, making for a "shaggy" effect. The juvenile looks similar to the adult, but the base of the bill is paler, and a green or yellow line runs down the back of the legs.

Snowy egrets nest in colonies on thick vegetation in isolated places, such as barrier islands, dredge-spoil islands, salt marsh islands, swamps, and marshes. They often change location from year to year. During the breeding season, snowy egrets feed in estuaries, saltmarshes, tidal channels, shallow bays, and mangroves. They winter in mangroves, saltwater lagoons, freshwater swamps, grassy ponds, and temporary pools, and forage on beaches, shallow reefs, and wet fields.

The snowy egret eats mostly aquatic animals, including fish, frogs, worms, crustaceans, and insects. It often uses its bright yellow feet to paddle in the water or probe in the mud, rounding up prey before striking with its bill. Snowy egrets feed while standing, walking, running, or hopping, and they may vibrate their bills, sway their heads, or flick their wings as part of prey gathering. They even forage while hovering. Snowy egrets forage in saltmarsh pools, tidal channels, tidal flats, freshwater marshes, swamps, ocean inlets, and lake edges, usually preferring brackish or marine habitats with shallow water. Other foraging water birds often assemble around them to form mixed-species foraging groups.

Snowy egrets are permanent residents in most of South America and Central America. In the United States, they are often permanent residents along the Atlantic coast north to Virginia Beach, Virginia, along the Gulf Coast, and along the Pacific lowlands from central California southward. During the breeding season, snowy egrets wander north along the Atlantic flyway between the lower Chesapeake Bay and coastal Rhode Island, and up the Pacific Coast to northern California. Snowy egrets also breed in the lower Mississippi Valley westward into eastern Texas. Birds banded in United States have been recovered as far away as Panama and Trinidad.

The birds eat fish, crustaceans, insects, small reptiles, snails, frogs, worms, mice and crayfish. They stalk prey in shallow water, often running or shuffling their feet, flushing prey into view, as well "dip-fishing" by flying with their feet just over the water. Snowy egrets may also stand still and wait to ambush prey, or hunt for insects stirred up by domestic animals in open fields.

Grey Heron

The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a long-legged predatory wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern parts migrate southwards in autumn. A bird of wetland areas, it can be seen around lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes and on the sea coast. It feeds mostly on aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water or stalking its prey through the shallows.

Standing up to a metre tall, adults weigh from 1 to 2 kg (2.2 to 4.4 lb). They have a white head and neck with a broad black stripe that extends from the eye to the black crest. The body and wings are grey above and the underparts are greyish-white, with some black on the flanks. The long, sharply pointed beak is pinkish-yellow and the legs are brown.

The birds breed colonially in spring in "heronries", usually building their nests high in trees. A clutch of usually three to five bluish-green eggs is laid. Both birds incubate the eggs for a period of about 25 days, and then both feed the chicks, which fledge when seven or eight weeks old. Many juveniles do not survive their first winter, but if they do, they can expect to live for about five years.

In Ancient Egypt, the deity Bennu was depicted as a heron in New Kingdom artwork. In Ancient Rome, the heron was a bird of divination. Roast heron was once a specially-prized dish; when George Neville became Archbishop of York in 1465, four hundred herons were served to the guests.

The grey heron is a large bird, standing up to 100 cm (39 in) tall and measuring 84–102 cm (33–40 in) long with a 155–195 cm (61–77 in) wingspan. The body weight can range from 1.02–2.08 kg (2.2–4.6 lb). The plumage is largely ashy-grey above, and greyish-white below with some black on the flanks. Adults have the head and neck white with a broad black supercilium that terminates in the slender, dangling crest, and bluish-black streaks on the front of the neck. The scapular feathers are elongated and the feathers at the base of the neck are also somewhat elongated. Immature birds lack the dark stripe on the head and are generally duller in appearance than adults, with a grey head and neck, and a small, dark grey crest. The pinkish-yellow beak is long, straight and powerful, and is brighter in colour in breeding adults. The iris is yellow and the legs are brown and very long.

The main call is a loud croaking "fraaank", but a variety of guttural and raucous noises are heard at the breeding colony. The male uses an advertisement call to encourage a female to join him at the nest, and both sexes use various greeting calls after a pair bond has been established. A loud, harsh "schaah" is used by the male in driving other birds from the vicinity of the nest and a soft "gogogo" expresses anxiety, as when a predator is nearby or a human walks past the colony. The chicks utter loud chattering or ticking noises.

Stork-billed Kingfisher

The stork-billed kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis), is a tree kingfisher which is widely but sparsely distributed in the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India to Indonesia. This kingfisher is resident throughout its range.

It is a very large kingfisher, measuring 35 cm (14 in) in length. The adult has a green back, blue wings and tail, and olive-brown head. Its underparts and neck are buff. The very large bill and legs are bright red. The flight of the stork-billed kingfisher is laboured and flapping, but direct. Sexes are similar. There are 13 races or subspecies, differing mostly in plumage detail, but P. c. gigantea of the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines has a white head, neck and underparts. The call of this noisy kingfisher is a low and far reaching peer-por-por repeated about every 5 seconds, as well cackling ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke.

The stork-billed kingfisher lives in a variety of well-wooded habitats near lakes, rivers, or coasts. It perches quietly whilst seeking food, and is often inconspicuous despite its size. It is territorial and will chase away eagles and other large predators. This species hunts fish, frogs, crabs, rodents and young birds.

Adults dig their nests in river banks, decaying trees, or tree termite nests. A clutch of two to five round white eggs is typical.

Scarlet Darter/ Scarlet Dragonfly

Crocothemis erythraea is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. Its common names include broad scarlet, common scarlet-darter, scarlet darter and scarlet dragonfly.

The scarlet dragonfly is a common species in southern Europe and throughout Africa. It also occurs across western Asia as far as southern China. It is a very rare vagrant in Britain. Its first record in the country was at Hayle Kimbro Pool, The Lizard, Cornwall, on 7 August 1995. Since then there have been a few further records at scattered locations throughout Britain.

A wide range of both running and standing waters, except those that are shaded. Adults may be found some distance from water in habitats ranging from desert to open woodland; absent from dense forest.

Crocothemis erythraea can reach a length of 33–44 millimetres (1.3–1.7 in). These dragonflies haves a flattened and rather broad abdomen. The adult male scarlet dragonfly has a bright scarlet red, widened abdomen, with small amber patches at the bases of the hindwings. Also the veins on the leading edges of the wings are red. Females and immatures are yellow-brown and have a conspicuous pale stripe along the top of the thorax.