Bird photography

[dolina]

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Great Egret (Ardea alba) by alabang, on Flickr

With its long, white breeding plumes, orange-yellow bill, and green facial skin, the Great Egret at the height of the breeding season is stunning to behold. Even at other times of the year, when it loses its plumes and its face and bill return to their typical dull yellow, this large, white wader is difficult to overlook. Male and female Great Egrets are similar (38 inches) at all times of the year. The Great Egret is widely distributed across warmer parts of the globe. In North America, the Great Egret breeds primarily in the southeastern United States, with smaller pockets of breeding territory in the Great Plains, the northeast, and in the west. Most of the Great Egrets in the southeast are permanent residents, but those in cooler climates migrate south for the winter, where they may be found along the coast of California, in the southwest, and in Texas. This species also breeds in Eurasia from southern Europe east to east Asia, wintering in North Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. Populations also exist in South America, Australia and New Zealand. Great Egrets live in and around small bodies of water. In summer, Great Egrets nest in colonies, called ‘rookeries,’ in trees surrounding lakes and ponds. This species utilizes similar habitats during the winter. Great Egrets mainly eat fish, but may also take crustaceans and small vertebrates (such as frogs, lizards, and mice) when the opportunity arises. Great Egrets may be best observed wading in shallow water, where they may be seen plunging their bills into the water to catch fish. It is also possible to see Great Egrets at their rookeries, especially when they return to roost at sunset, or while flying with their feet extended and their necks pulled in. Great Egrets are primarily active during the day.

Source: http://eol.org/pages/1178488/overview

Taken at the International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines

Settings: 1/2000 ƒ/6.3 ISO640 800mm

[adjong]

The White Collared Kingfisher (halcyon chloris) is the most common of kingfishers. One reason for this could be the wide variety of prey that they take: from fish, crabs and prawns, to lizards, small snakes, insects, tadpoles and earthworms. Those hunting along the coast eat mainly small crabs and crustacea, and some fish, mostly mudskippers.

These birds are 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

This kingfisher was shot at one of our birding sites in Valencia, Negros. Join IBiS Basic Birding Treks in Negros, Bohol, Puerto Princesa and Coron and get to shoot the best of Philippine wildlife. Hike, camp out, set out in an adventure and live a dream

[dolina]

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) by alabang, on Flickr

The little egret is an opportunistic hunter (5), feeding mainly during the day whilst walking through shallow, open water, stabbing prey with its bill (5) (6). It is highly dependent on visual cues when hunting and therefore its feeding is highly affected if the water is not clear (5) (6). It feeds primarily on small fish, which are usually around 1.2 to 6 centimetres in length, but bivalves, crustaceans, and other invertebrates are also consumed (5).

Little egrets breed at different times of the year depending on location. Those populations based in Europe and Asia breed during spring and summer, whilst the breeding seasons of more tropical populations coincide with rainy seasons (5). Little egrets nest in mixed or single species colonies, and lay four to six eggs in single clutch, with the chicks hatching three weeks later and fledging at four weeks old. The chicks will spend a further month in their parents' care before leaving the nest and dispersing (7).

Source: Little egret videos, photos and facts - Egretta garzetta - ARKive

Taken at the International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines

Settings: 1/2000 ƒ/6.3 ISO500 800mm

[ins3cure]

Share for the day..

[whang_bar]

[froknoi]

A humming bird feeding its young chicks, spend some time trying to capture this shot under a home made "camouflage blanket"

[dolina]

Great images froknoi and insecure.


Purple-throated Sunbird (Leptocoma sperata) by alabang, on Flickr

Purple-throated Sunbird (Leptocoma sperata) has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Source: Purple-throated Sunbird (Nectarinia*sperata) - BirdLife species factsheet

Taken at UP Los Banos, Philippines

Settings: 1/30 ƒ/5.6 ISO1600 800mm

[dolina]

Chestnut Munia, (Lonchura atricapilla) by alabang, on Flickr

he Chestnut Munia, (Lonchura atricapilla) (formerly considered as a subspecies of the Tricoloured Munia Lonchura malacca atricapilla) also known as Black-headed Munia, is a small passerine bird. This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Hawaii. Known as mayang pula ("red maya", to distinguish it from the predominantly brownish Tree Sparrow which is also called maya) in the Philippines, perhaps because of its brick red patch on the lower back that shows only when it flies. The Black-headed Munia is the former national bird of the Philippines (the Philippine national bird is now the Philippine eagle).

Source: Chestnut Munia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Taken at Candaba, Philippines

Settings: 1/640 ƒ/5.6 ISO640 800mm

[ins3cure]

Grabe ni bro dolina uy, pang educational man pud ni nga post. Pwede ko copy bro? Patan-aw nako sa ko mga niece & nephews

[dolina]

Sure insecure.


Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) by alabang, on Flickr

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend is not known, but the population is not believed to be decreasing sufficiently rapidly to approach the thresholds under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Source: Megalurus palustris (Striated Grassbird)

Taken in Muntinlupa City

Settings: 1/160 ƒ/5.6 ISO400 800mm