Philippine Coucal attacking Pied Fantail family

[Tonji Ramos]

I was looking for the Philippine Coucals in Alabang yesterday very late in the afternoon. In between the strong downpours I would hide in the tall grass and make my monkey/ coucal noises. I got a bird to respond to my calls and I slowly went near the area while adjusting my camera settings. Suddenly I saw a Philippine Coucal fly into a mango tree and there was a loud commotion. Two Pied fantails were agitated and I guessed that they were trying protect a nest. The Coucal then shot out of the tree flapping wildly. I had my camera in my hands at chest level and just pointed and panned without using the viewfinder. There was no time to bring to camera to my eye as it all happened so fast. It took two or three seconds. I took seven pictures. As I was reviewing the pics I did not expect to have gotten anything useful, but luckily I got something....probably the most blurred pictures ever to be posted in Philippine Bird Photography Forum. I thought that despite the lack of photographic quality you guys might find it interesting.

A coucal with a chick in its mouth and a parent Pied Fantail screaming and trying to stop the coucal. The Fantail is gripping the Coucal's tail and flapping wildly trying to stop the much bigger bird and rescue the baby.

Thats My Baby!!



Brave Fantail



Canon 50D, 100-400, ISO 800, 1/320, f5.6

[Jun Gregorio]

Nice.

Looks like the smaller bird were riding on the big guys tail.

[tina mallari]

Whoaaaa That IS interesting indeed Tonj but the more interesting part is that you were out again shooting in the rain ? ? ?

And to think na Sylvia mentioned na you guys were feeling under the weather yesterday ;D ;D ;D HahAHahHAhaA HARD CORE birder/photographer ka talaga - nothing can beat you ;D

Can you imagine how awesome this photo would be if it was clear - WOWWWWW that will surely make our eyeballs pop out !

Thanks for sharing Tonji

[Edu Lorenzo Jr]

behavior, "birds being birds" photos have a very special effect on me.. haaayyyyyy

thanks for sharing tonji

[eman campos]

That's an amazing shot despite the technical quality.

A Philippine Coucal in Alabang? Well, that's another wow!

Makes me a bit upset about what the picture tries to remind us of the kind of life in the real world though.

Then again, that's how life in the wild goes. God Almighty has designed it to be that and we must understand that its good reasons overwhelm our emotions on this sad part of the whole cycle.

[Toto Gamboa]

woooooooow. interesting indeed. the battle for survival. of all the birds, coucals are the least to excite me. they seem to have that wicked personality both in looks and behaviour.

[Ely Teehankee]

Even if the picture is not very clear it is enough to see that we live in a world of survival. Its food for the Coucal and tragedy for the Pied Fantail. Good documentation Tonji. With this experience I am sure you will do better next time. Mabuhay.

[ppaaoolloo]

It looks like the coucal got a bug for the baby.

[Neon Rosell II]

Wow!! Talking of quick to the draw!! The equipment is not at par to your speed!! Framing a fast subject is already a feat!! Most of the blurriness were probably due to a slow shutter, motion blur . I guess, this is one of the situations where you just shoot and pray.

There must be a short supply of insects in the area as the PC resorted to getting the protein somewhere else. I guess it has a chick to feed as well.

[Romy Ocon]

Wow.... that must've been a sight to behold, amazing documentation of this heart-rending albeit 100% natural behavior!

[Toto Gamboa]

May 9, 2009 6:20:06 GMT @ppaaoolloo said:

It looks like the coucal got a bug for the baby.

i thought of this too. looks like a beetle. probably this is a beetle. could it be that the fantail shoo'd away the coucal thus the scene? however, coucals are known to be opportunistic predators and have read before of snatching chicks of other smaller birds.

[Tonji Ramos]

Regarding the diet of the Philippine Coucal I am no expert but Des Allen and I were in the same area around a month ago and we were discussing the coucal. He said they raid the nests of other birds so the other birds do not like them.

Regarding the chick/bug hehe. The chick is inverted and the little legs are sticking out. I think the chick was being held in the middle/ neck part of the body, the butt facing us in the picture. Ack!! Sorry the picture is really blurred. I did say these are the most blurred pictures ever to be posted in the forum.

Jun, yup it was gripping the tail!

Tina, indeed I was kinda sick yesterday. We watched a Star Trek today, so nice. Now I think I feel worse. Haha. Maybe if I try to take pictures of nightjars tonight I will feel better. ;D

Eman,
There are at least 4 Philippine Coucals in our village that I have seen. Yesterday I saw two and heard one. I feel bad for the smaller birds because there are no natural predators for the Coucals in our village. I don't think the cats can get them.

There are quite a few birds here. We have taken pictures of 41 birds and have seen 5 others and heard but not seen two more. Plus Tina has seen a few that we have never seen or heard so I am thinking we have more than 50 species of birds.

Toto, yup they look evil. Kinda look like devil birds. And yup they do eat baby birds.

Ely, thanks glad you like it.

paolo, I looked at it well, its a little bird sadly.

Neon, yup I just pressed the button. Its not film so I just clicked away. I was expecting the bird to just be hopping around a tree so the speed was kinda in the middle of a static shot and a fast shot. I did not expect it to fly, and really fast not the regular glide of a coucal.

Regarding the diet, the grass is long there with lots and lots of bugs. I know cause they kept biting me! I think they just regularly try to get little chicks.

Thanks Romy. Sorry to post such a blurred shot. I felt ashamed to even include the exif hehe since its really wrong for a BIF pic. Its a what not to do exif.

[Mark Itol]

A very interesting documentation, Tonji. Agree with Neon, getting those shots alone is already a feat. Poor fantail chick. But then, that's how it works in the wild.

[Bob Kaufman]

Tonji, you're so lucky to have witnessed (and photographed) this behavior. Nature can be cruel sometimes.

[Lydia Robledo]

For me, they are classic shots. They appear like art works (intentional baga) (stills) but looks so alive with emotion. It would be great to frame and put them on your wall side by side You will have a story to tell everytime. Now, name the photos! telyd I'd name it MOTHER'S TOUGH DAY!

[Clemn A. Macasiano Jr.]

Wow ! Excellent capture !

[Ding Carpio]

Darn. Am about to go to bed and thought I'd check the boards one final time.

Now I'll go to sleep depressed. I will never look at a coucal the same way.

[Teddy Regpala]

That's really an amazing doco shot tonji!
Don't worry about the quality and the technical stuffs, it is what it is.
Your quick reaction and panning skills made this documentary possible.

This is nature up close, it happens all the time.
There's predators and prey, an aggressor and aggressee .... ;D

Same thing happens to human beings ... and politics (lots of alligators and crocs, hehehe).

Thanks for sharing.

[Lydia Robledo]

Talking about diet, survival, balance. We looked at the poor chickadee and the parent/chick/coucal drama. When you see the same thing with a caterpillar or butterfly happenning, the impact is not as much, we are even happy for the bird that catches the first worm . There was a Mom that laid the eggs. What would she feel? This is for balance, so they do not turn to be pests, some have to go. In my butterfly garden, the Maria Cafras eat up all my caterpillars, that once, I heard myself say, I'm going to get myself a sling shot! Praise for coucals that they can help in maintaining the balance. Yep, population check!

This is what makes man different from animals. God created man superior to other members of Creation. God made a commandment not to kill man. So you see, coucals are acting naturally, but now, men... men, oh, men. They are acting like animals and we have started to believe that it is alright. Worst, some even kill their own babies. telyds, musing