Tropical Song Birds - Part 3

There are certain tropical birds that once you've seen one, you never forget them. Then, there are other tropical birds that once you've heard one, you never forget what their song sounds like. Among them is one of the world's sweetest singers. So here's the skinny on:

• White-eyes

• Honey Eaters
• Leatherheads
• Drongos
• Racket-tailed Drongo
• Magpie Robin
• White Rumped Shama
• Whistling Thrushes
• Tailorbirds
• Fantails
• Paradise Flycatcher

The White-eyes form a very close group of little songbirds, the Zosteropidae . They live in active small flocks that examine trees and bushes for insects, berries, and fruit, occasionally sipping nectar from blossoms with their feather-tipped tongs.

Some species have a melodious twitter, others, a real song.They have a strong family resemblance in spite of their extensive range. They are found over most of Africa, southern India and China, Japan, the East Indies, Polynesia to Tasmania and New Zealand.

The plumage is olive green above and pale yellow underneath. The name White-Eye does not refer to the iris, but to a circle of silvery white feathers around the eye. The Oriental White Eye, one of the smallest of the species, is common in India, south China, and the East Indies.

The Bluish White-Eye lives in Australia and New Zealand. The most westerly species is the Senegal White Eye.

The Honey Eaters, or Meliphagidae, are a peculiar group of birds of the Australian region, including New Guinea. A few species are found in the East Indies and Africa.

Like the bees, these little birds probe blossoms with their long curved bills, and their tubular tongues to extract the nectar. They also feed on berries and small insects. Like the hummingbirds of America, they pollinate certain flowers.

In Australia are also found the Tropidorhynchs, called Leatherheads (sometimes referred to as Four O'Clocks). They are striking birds with bare heads and neck. There are horny growths on the bill. They are quite different from the neat and pleasing Honey Eaters of the other groups.

The Green Philemons of New Guinea have the same general appearance. Other closely allied species live in India and the East Indies.

A more beautiful Honey Eater is the Cape Promerops of South Africa, a slender bird with an extremely long tail.

The Drongos, forming the family of the Dicruridae (or Edoliidae), are spread from Africa through southern Asia and the East Indies to Australia and even the Solomon Islands. Considering this vast range, the number of species is not very great.

In general, these birds are about as big as a Robin, glossy black, or at least very dark in hue. They are insect-eaters and show some traits of our larger Flycatchers.

Like them, they have a strong, hooked bill. They live in trees and they are said to attack crows and birds of prey, being quite fearless.

Their song is clear and loud. Some species mimic other birds. The tail is long and forked.

In the large Racket-Tailed Drongo, the two outer tail feathers are greatly lengthened. They are birds of twelve inches who carry tail feathers seventeen inches long. Beyond the tail proper, the shafts of these two long feathers are bare for six inches or more, ending in five inches of a wide feathered area, so that the appearance is a little like that of two tennis rackets.

Some of the Drongos have a short crest, and most of them have long bristles at the base of the bill.

The Dayal (or Magpie Robin), is a long-tailed, black and white bird that resembles our Western Magpie and its European relative -- except that it is only half as long.

It is a common bird in gardens and fields from India to the East Indies, and has a very pleasant song. Its relative, the White-Rumped Shama of the same regions, is also Magpie like -- its rump is white, and its tail is even long than that of the Dayal.

It is often kept as a cage bird, for its song is one of the most melodious in the whole bird world.

The Whistling Thrushes are a little bigger than Robins. They usually live on the ground, on the banks of brooks, from which they take snails, their principal food.

They do not sing, but they have a tuneful whistle. One interesting member of this family is the Blue Whistling Thrush, which ranges from the Himalaya Mountains to the East Indies. Its bill is yellow. Its plumage dark purplish blue, each feather ending in a shiny tip.

The Tailorbirds are small, long-billed birds of dull gray or olive plumage. They are found in India, China, Indochina, and the East Indies. They have a sweet song, but they are particularly interesting because of their nesting habits.

They choose a large hanging leaf or two leaves growing close to each other and, with their long, sharp bill as an awl, they sew the edges together with plant fiber, forming sort of a pocket in which the nest proper is built.

The Fantails are small birds with a short bill and a long tail, which is often brought up straight and opened like a fan. They are found from southern Asia to Polynesia. They are insect eaters and very active and restless.

The Javanese species has a black cap and eye band, a white stripe over the eye and white under parts. There is a black band on the breast and the tail feathers are tipped with white. The rest of the plumage is dark gray.

The nest of the Fantails is a very neat cup fastened above with a horizontal branch by a curious sort of stem that hangs down below the branch for several inches.

The Paradise Flycatcher is a very remarkable bird, found in Africa, India, China, and nearby. The male attains seventeen inches in length, while the female is only eight inches long, the difference in length representing that of the two central feathers of the tail.

The crested head and the neck are black. The bill and the bare skin at its base are blue. The plumage is white, finely streaked with black on the back. The tail is moderately long except the two central feathers. The paradise flycatcher does not have a real song, but its trilled whistle is melodious.