drinking snow

Did you mother ever tell you not to drink snow? Well, apparently their mothers did not tell these birds… These hardy birds presumably don’t have to worry too much about lowering their body’s core temperature by taking a little snow, and if your diet is dry like seeds (or the fruit you’ve been eating is dry and shriveled) then a little water is very important to aid digestion...

Cedar Waxwing

Red Crossbill - female

Red Crossbill - male

Ruffed Grouse

These Red Crossbills and Ruffed Grouse are both drinking snow that has accumulated on a branch and has perhaps been compacted or melted a little and refrozen to ice, in which case it will have more water content that powdered snow…

Birds and climate change and, well, change...

There is an interesting little summary piece on the Birdlife International page today about the impact on birds of climate change. You can read this at: http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2009/12/climate_impacts.html

Here in Manitoba, we have seen northward shifts in particular of aspen parkland species. For example, I recently documented Yellow-throated Vireo in the Porcupine Mountains, a good 200km north of even the most current range maps. In and around The Pas, where land clearing for agriculture has created parkland like habitat, other parkland species like Black-billed Cuckoo are starting to show up, again well north of their expected range. Trembling aspens themselves are apparently growing faster and are encroaching on new areas at a rapid rate.

Notice anything special about the bird in the photo below?


You might if you had been studying them in the U.K since the 1960s! This is Blackcap, a type of Old World warbler. Since the 1960s some Blackcaps breeding in Germany, began changing their migration. Instead of going southwest to Spain, they went northwest to southern England. There have been many articles written about that fascinating phenomenon. It is also one of those cases that demonstrate the important partnership between birdwatchers and scientists. It is precisely because there are so many birdwatchers in every corner of the British Isles that this phenomenon was so well documented. But the story doesn't end there...

We are also starting to learn of the truly staggering pace at which birds can react to seemingly subtle changes in their environment. An interesting piece came out in the Globe and Mail summarising the findings of a recent study demonstrating how the population of Blackcaps that migrate to the U.K have made subtle changes to their bill shape and wing shape in just a few decades. The authors concluded that this was thanks to the combined effects of climate change and… wait for it... bird feeders! Really makes one think of the impact of even seemingly innocuous behaviour like putting up a bird feeder. Read the following for more details: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/science/british-birds-rapid-evolution-signals-human-impact/article1387804/

It is amazing what a difference a few degrees makes… and the cumulative pressures on birds from so much and so many types of change, change, change is staggering!

Another one on the wrong list!

With the announcement today of the latest round of COSEWIC (Committee On the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) assessments, Manitoba has gained yet another bird on the wrong list – the list of threatened species. And, not surprisingly the newly listed species is a grassland bird – the grassland specialist being probably the most threatened group of birds by habitat, at least in North America.

The species in question is the Chestnut-collared Longspur, a species that breeds in our native prairie (in Canada in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba). The species has suffered severe population declines since the 1960’s. Like so many grassland birds, the Chestnut-collared Longspur is threatened by loss and fragmentation of native grasslands from the usual array of anthropogenic developments and their influences on the landscape.

More details on this new round of assessments can be found at http://www.cosewic.gc.ca/eng/sct0/index_e.cfm?#results

A few photos of the Chestnut-collared Longspur in community pastures with native hay in western Manitoba are included below. You can appreciate the rich colours of this well marked species but you will also notice in the first photo how the cryptic patterning on the back works well as camouflage in the grasslands. In the second and third photo you can see the elongated toes that gives the four species in the genus Calcarius their English name (longspurs). In Manitoba this species once bred as far east as Winnipeg, including at sites near the present day airport. Unfortunately, this species has not only declined in our province but also has experienced a dramatic collapse of the periphery of their range. These days, you need to go almost all the way to the Saskatchewan border to see one (at least to the Brandon area anyway). The same is true for other grassland specialists like Baird’s Sparrow, Burrowing Owl and Sprague’s Pipit. These birds are in urgent need of our assistance to try and win back the prairies that we are losing at such as alarming rate!

Borneo - waterside

One of the best ways to see wildlife in the rainforest is to use the waterways – their openness creates light and allows one to see into the canopy. I was able to get out on the water along the magnificent Sungai Kinabatangan (Sungai means River) and in a few other places near the coast.

One of the most remarkable species that lives along these waterways is the Proboscis Monkey. The large nose of the male that gives this species their name acts as a resonating chamber when they issue their warning calls. The fat belly is a product of a complicated stomach specialized bacteria to digest the leaves that make up their diet (leaves that would be unpalatable to most).

The Estuarine Crocodile loiters along the banks of the Kinabatangan and with a bit of luck can be seen sun baking.

The Bearded Pig is another resident of the riverside forests, where there are plenty of opportunities for wallowing.


The Oriental Darter, the Asian member of the Anhinga family, is very difficult to see on the Asian mainland, where it has become very rare. Borneo is one of the best places to see them!


With views of the canopy all around you, traveling the river by canoe is a great way to see hornbills. These are Sunda Wrinkled Hornbills and there is a pair of Oriental Pied Hornbills also near the bottom of the photo.


Away from the main river where there are smaller pools or wetlands there are of course various members of the rail family. This is the shy Red-legged Crake.


And on smaller forest streams, one of the distinctive Asian groups, the forktails, related to robins, make their living. This is a female Chestnut-naped Forktail. The females have more chestnut on the back than the males! This individual seems to have less of a forked tail than most, perhaps due to wear…


The Straw-headed Bulbul is most commonly found in riverside forests. This beautiful songster is now listed as “Vulnerable” (one step down from Endangered), primarily due to declines caused by trapping for the cage-bird industry and also habitat clearing. This species has disappeared from many areas where they were very common a few decades ago. They are virtually extinct on Sumatra, where trapping of live birds is rampant, but fortunately they still occur in places like Borneo. I can recall several times hearing their magnificent song coming from a cage, which I found completely depressing.


There are pittas to be found near the water too. The beautiful Mangrove Pitta, one of several pitta species with a similar rainbow colour scheme, is restricted to the coastal Mangroves and is threatened by the heavy deforestation of that habitat type.


The Hooded Pitta is another species that I saw along the waterside…

Naturally, there are kingfishers by the river (as well as deep in the forest). The well-named Stork-billed Kingfisher, with their enormous bill, is one such species.

The much smaller Blue-eared Kingfisher with their magnificent rich azure, neon and red is a sight to behold. Here are two images to show the richness of bother the upperparts and the underparts of this bird.



That’s it for this small series. Only a small sample of the avian beauty of the area. More photos from South East Asia at http://artusophotos.com/