Olive-winged Bulbul

Olive-winged Bulbul (Pyconotus plumosus) - note the beautiful olive wings
Location : Zone C

 Today has been another fruitful birding day.  The abundance  of Eugenia oleina trees that are in various stages of fruiting have kept many species of birds busy at the park for many days now.  The birds that appear in flocks or in small parties visiting the fruiting trees are the Philippines Glossy Starling, Brown Barbet, Yellow-vented Bulbul and today a new surprise visitor dropped by.  It was the Olive-winged Bulbul (see inset).  It has black bill, light brown feet and a beautiful olive plumage.  It is a lifer for me.  It doesn't seem to make any calls and was intent on eating the ripe juicy fruits of the Eugenia.  It looked at me curiously and was not in a hurry to fly-off  upon noticing my presence, thus allowing me to get better and clearer shots of it.

Olive-winged Bulbul and the berries of the Eugenia oleina

( This is a re-posting from a birding blog of mine as in here...>>>>http://mybirdingsarawak.blogspot.my/2016/06/olive-backed-bulbul-enjoying-eugenia.html )

Training early in acquired taste

Training early to love red juicy seeds of  'Simpoh Air' 

Baby Bulbul

You would imagine that acquired taste is among the rich and famous, eating anything bizarre with out of this world pricey tag.  Mother bulbul teaches otherwise.  It entails getting out early, very early in the morning to hunt for seeds to feed its young.  A little too late is much too late because by then other ferocious birds like the black glossy starlings would dominate the scene and chase the Mother bulbul away.  The baby bulbul need to be trained early to love the juicy red seeds of the 'Simpoh Air' or Shrubby dillenia.  There are hundreds over the neighbourhood to be picked everyday but not all fruits open up  its seeds at the right time and place.  It is a bird's life, flying around to gather them, and then with sublime touch insert the seeds into the eager mouth of baby bulbul. Little bulbul needs to be trained early to love the dillenia seeds. Other types of exotic diet will come next...ants? maggots? bees?.  If only man keep to his promise of ecological biodiversity our world would be a prosperous place lamented Mother Bulbul.

Ready to lift off with priceless seed

A mother's care

A young Yellow-vented Bulbul is being fed by its mother with the red juicy seeds of the 'Simpoh Air' ( Dillenia suffructicosa)

The Yellow-vented Bulbul enjoying the fruits

Yellow-vented Bulbul at the Yellow Ixora bush
Location : Zone C

In the above picture the Yellow-vented Bulbul is attracted to the ripe fruits of the Yellow Ixora.  In the park, the Bulbul catches bees, insects and eats berries, seeds and flesh of juicy fruits. The two most seen bulbuls are the Yellow-vented and the Red-eyed types.  Occasionally the Black -headed Bulbul will come out of the forest to enjoy the sunshine and make merry sounds in the park's open areas and roadside trees.

Red-eyed Bulbul enjoys the ixora berry

Red-eyed Bulbul (Pyconotus brunneus) with ripe berry of the Ixora coccinea

It is my first sighting of the Red-eyed Bulbul caught in the midst of eating a ripe berry of the Yellow Ixora.  It took quite a while (about 3 minutes)  for it to position the fruit well before swallowing it.

Bulbuls are having a fiesta

Red-eyed bulbul

 The bulbuls are kept busy at the park with the abundance of the tiny berry-like fruits of the Eugenia oleina.  They dashed and frolicked, chasing one another and then stopping to have a bite of the black juicy fruits.  The sounds of their flapping wings and their twittering calls makes the park lively everywhere.  All three species seemed to be oblivious of each other as they intermingle freely.  The rarely seen Black-headed bubul took time to get away from the edges of the forests and have fun in the park too.

Yellow- vented bulbul

Black -headed bulbul

Today's klikz - Red-eyed bulbul

Today's klikz

Birdwatch album - Bulbul

Yellow-vented Bulbul

 The Bulbul is relatively easy to watch because they habitually visit the Simpoh trees (Dillenia suffructicosa) for its juicy red seeds and red ants.  The most regular visitors are the Yellow-vented species.  At one moment I was able to watch them gregariously flying above the trees in great numbers in a lively show of aerobatic display.  They eat the fruits of the Eugenia oleina when the fruiting season comes and it is also the best time to watch them with their loud chatter and merry flights. 

Bulbuls in aerobatic display

Eugenia oleina berries...

Bulbul with crest..