Sunday, August 15, 2010

Magpie-Robins

So here's another post for the Oriental Magpie-Robins (Copsychus saularis) in my front yard. I still haven't seen the mother bird, don't know why. Hope she's still doing alright though. The father bird briefly gave me a chance to get some good photos of him at close range before flying up into a dense tree. His plumage looks really worn out, which is not unexpected, with the presence of all those 4 chicks. Some of the fledglings have already shown few adult features on their upperparts including glossy black feathers indicating that they're male. These birds constantly visit my front yard to pick up some worms and insects. One of the youngs successfully caught a colourful bug, but unfortunately this bug is very well known for its super smelly liquid it sprays out from its body when disturbed. I watched the young bird trying to eat this noxious insect difficultly with one of its eyes closed in order to prevent the chemical liquid of this bug. Finally it successfully swallowed the insect and opened its eye. Hope it was not poisoned.

2 comments:

Ari said...

Great 'action' shots!Keep posting..

Phil Slade said...

A nice looking bird that to me looks mid way between our Blackbird and Magpie.Good shots again Ayuwat.