Birds in my garden

[Queenie O.]

If any of you remember I did a post about the Cup of Gold vine  in a post a while back.  The other day I saw that a Maya or Black Headed Munia  had build a small hidden nest between the vines on the window grill.  Fun to see, and we've been careful not to go to near as to disturb the small pink eggs in the nest.  I'd say that we have about maybe 15 different kinds of birds in the yard here in Cebu.  Down by the sea we find small Chinese Egrets on the mudflats during low tide, as well as White Collared Kingfishers. Swiftlets dart back and forth over the sea and back into the yard. also seen are cuckoo birds and other wild doves. A native Tamsi or the Philippine's version of a hummingbird darts around favored flowers looking for nectar. We have a yellow bellied flycatcher that can project it's call like a ventriloquist to another spot in the garden! Another bird makes a sound like EEEEk! The birds have simple birdbaths to visit and I think that our walled garden is a kind of refuge for them. It's kind of fun to find out what the bird is called in Bisaya, and then googling images it to find the English translation

I recently picked up a book here called Birds of Cebu and Bohol. The writers explained that due to illegal logging/overtaking of land for farming/housing etc. has cut back on many endemic trees that were once homes for many birds. Birds is the past and still now are sometimes hunted for sport or pet trade, which keeps numbers down.

We're just glad for all the birds that we observe, and think that it makes a nicer place to share space with them. I was surprised to read that many birds have adapted to city areas too, and have become more plentiful there. 

Do you have any particular birds that you see and observe in your areas?  I'd love to hear about any that you might know. Google images when looking to identify a particular bird here in the Philippines. You'd be surprised that after looking around you can spot the exact bird that you'd been looking for!

 

[Eddie1]

Great post Queenie, thanks for sharing.

[RBM]

Queenie the little brown bird  in your pic we often see here early am, do you have a name for it, could not find on google. Is it in the  sparrow family?

[Dave Hounddriver]

34 minutes ago, RBM said:

Queenie the little brown bird  in your pic we often see here early am, do you have a name for it, could not find on google

Not being bird person, I am a google person.  Perhaps this is what you are looking for?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut_munia

Here is the Wiki pic of a Chestnut Munia in Cebu

[Jack Peterson]

3 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Not being bird person, I am a google person.  Perhaps this is what you are looking for?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut_munia

Here is the Wiki pic of a Chestnut Munia in Cebu

 I have a Little family nesting again this year cute and not destructive 

[JDDavao II]

We have Pied Fantails, which never seem to hold still and, here, constantly bow, counterbalanced on twigs by that beautiful tail.

We also have the Chesnut Munias and hordes of Eurasian Tree Sparrows.

My favorite is the tiny Olive Backed Sunbird.

[Queenie O.]

2 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

 I have a Little family nesting again this year cute and not destructive 

That's a good one Jack. I guess there are many varieties of Maya birds--not sure if  the name I found is the correct one. This one I read that tjhis chestnut one used to be the national bird of the Philippines. I found some bird videos on Youtube that were cool.  These birds must come back and nest year after year in some areas like yours. This is a first nest sighting for me here.

[Queenie O.]

1 hour ago, JDDavao said:

We have Pied Fantails, which never seem to hold still and, here, constantly bow, counterbalanced on twigs by that beautiful tail.

We also have the Chesnut Munias and hordes of Eurasian Tree Sparrows.

My favorite is the tiny Olive Backed Sunbird.

Hi JD,

Yes--that's the Philippine version of the hummingbird the Olive Backed Sunbird--Tamsi in Bisaya!  I love that one-- so quick and jaunty. I have some red tubular fire cracker plants that the Tamsi love to drink from. Do you have any of those plants?The black and white one here I think is called Siloy--constantly moving and flashing  it's tail.  I read that it's a distant relative of the famous and rare Black Shama  bird,which is endemic to Consolacion town here in Cebu. I love those sweet tree sparrows called Gorion here too. They remind me the most of sparrows back in the States. I wonder if any local birds would live in a tree house in the yard?  I've never seen one here.. Thanks for the pics!

[Queenie O.]

3 hours ago, RBM said:

Queenie the little brown bird  in your pic we often see here early am, do you have a name for it, could not find on google. Is it in the  sparrow family?

Hi RBM,

I think  that Dave andJack called it correctly the Chestnut Munia, or a variety of Maya bird.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Queenie O.

[Jack Peterson]

22 minutes ago, Queenie O. said:

That's a good one Jack. I guess there are many varieties of Maya birds--not sure if  the name I found is the correct one.

 Commonly called the Rice bird because of its white beak, they do normally live in paddy field but are a somewhat nervous bird and I guess that is why I get them year after year as we are in a Quiet Area;