Hair-Crested Drongo

Spring is on its way in Hong Kong and the flowering trees are beginning to blossom.  At the moment, the beautiful coral trees are the favourite of many nectar eating birds.

The flowers of the Coral tree are elephant trunk shaped with a bright red colour, locally they are also called the Elephant trunk flower .  

They must be very delicious for the birds because I caught a couple of  Hair-Crested Drongo, which mainly eat  insects and seeds, feeding on a Coral tree a few days ago. 

The Hair-crested Drongo is a native Asian bird and also called the “Spangled Drongo”. In the winter, many of them come from Northern China to enjoy the warmer climate in Hong Kong. 

The Hair-crested Drongo is relatively big at about 30cm long and its dark blue fluorescent feathers and long hair-like feathers on the forehead make it unique.

 

The Tailorbird story

       The Common Tailorbird may not be as beautiful as the Forktailed Sunbird, but it is one of the most famous tropical birds in the world. Thanks to the Nobel Prize winning writer Rudyard Kipling, his Jungle Book made two Tailorbird characters, Darzee and his wife, household names. 

The Common Tailorbird is a songbird, which is about 13cm long and belongs to the Warbler family. It lives mainly in tropical Asia including Hong Kong.

Although its greenish coloured body plumage does not stand out among the colourful tropical birds, its long upright tail and delicate long bill make this adorable little bird very popular with bird watchers.

The greenish colour provides good camouflage when it feeds on nectar,

insects and worms. 

The Tailorbird got its name from the way its nest is built. The female Tailorbird usually finds one or two large living leaves and “punctures” holes on the edges of the leaves using its sharp bill as a needle. Then she “sews” them together  just like a tailor, with spiders’ webs or fine grass. Finally, she will finish the nest after leaving an entrance hole at the top. What a clever bird!

Hopefully, I will be able to get a photo of a Common Tailorbird’s nest to share with you in the spring.  

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Sometimes we disagree, 

Sometimes we argue, 

Occasionally we even fight, 

But most of the time, we enjoy each other’s company, 

Most importantly, we love each other to bits! 

Happy Valentine's Day!