Rufous-backed Kingfisher of Coron

[Ely Teehankee]

These pictures were taken the following morning after the day of arrival. I wanted to see what birds were there in the morning compared to the afternoon of the previous day. I believe that birds are more readily seen in the morning rather than in the afternoon. I was not disappointed with the birds that I saw.

Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, Wimberley WH200 head. Manual exposure in available light.



The first bird that I saw was the Blue-and-white Flycatcher (Cyanoptila cyanomelana) which the Kennedy Guide Book describes as rare. Thanks to Des who identified this bird as in its first winter image. The bird moves a lot in search of food and was at the top most portion of the tree.
1/80 sec., f/5.6, ISO 3200




During the lull of the presence of birds I chance upon the White-vented Shama (Copsychus niger) which is endemic to the Philippines. Still not enough good light but the birds are there so I kept on shooting.
1/100sec., f/5.5, ISO 3200




Suddenly a Crested Goshawk (Accipiter trivirgatus) flew overhead and landed some distance away. It was covered with foliage. I waited for it to move for a better view. It finally did but his back was facing me. Even thought he was far he could see me as he turned to look at me. I wasted no time in taking some shots and this is the only decent one that I got.
1/400 sec., f/8, ISO 800




The Blue-headed Racquet-tail (Prioniturus platenae) is a sight to see. It is endemic to the Philippines. The head has an aquamarine shade of blue which makes it very attractive over the predominantly green bird. It has also got a pair of racquet tail. I presume the male is the only one that has the racquet tail because the other one is not as blue and does not have the extra tail. Maybe someone can enlighten us on this.
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 800




It was nice to see the two of them together before one took off ahead of the other one.
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 800




It was a pleasant surprise to see the Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis). It wasn't whistling as it was busy catching a worm.
The shade of this yellow feathers is really bright and makes it a nice color combination with the black.




This bird is commonly known to us as the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithacus). However the KGB says some authors call this the Rufous-backed Kingfisher (Ceyx rufidorsa) an endemic bird to the Philippines. I for one would called it the Rufous-backed Kingfisher to distinguish it from the others. This bird is almost a sure thing but with the population growing I don't know if some young boy will take a shot at it just like they did to the Ruddy Kingfisher. I don't see the Ruddy anymore. This bird is very small compared to the Ruddy and the colors are beautiful.
1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 3200




1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 3200





1/250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 3200




1/80 sec., f/8, ISO 3200




1/160 sec., f/8, ISO 3200




1/160 sec., f/8, ISO 3200




1/160 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600

[Ramon Quisumbing]

WOW!!! What a haul of beautiful birds, Ely! I have never seen the Blue-and-white Flycatcher and the Blue-crowned Racket-tailed Parrot. These are the clearest photos of the Rufous-backed Kingfisher I have ever seen. Congrats!

[William Lim]

Wow, great harvest you got, Ely. Love the photos rufous-backed kingfisher.

[paulbourdin]

Fantastic Pictures. The 'Blue-crowned Racquet-tail' is in fact 'Blue-headed Racquet-tail'. Apart from the fact that Blue-crowned apparently does not occur on Coron (according to Kennedy), the whole of the head is blue, not just the crown (which is the top part of the head on a bird).

The female has less blue on the head, and young birds take time to develop the raquets. Possibly the second bird is a juvenile female?

[Ely Teehankee]

Nov 30, 2011 11:14:56 GMT Ramon Quisumbing said:

WOW!!! What a haul of beautiful birds, Ely! I have never seen the Blue-and-white Flycatcher and the Blue-crowned Racket-tailed Parrot. These are the clearest photos of the Rufous-backed Kingfisher I have ever seen. Congrats!

In a couple of weeks maybe two, the Olive-backed Sunbird (Aurora) should hatch. It is just slightly above eye level and very near. Less than 10 meters. If you can go it would be a good opportunity for you to see all these birds and take some pictures of the OBS (aurora) hatchlings. Thank you for your observations.

[Ely Teehankee]

Nov 30, 2011 11:43:44 GMT William Lim said:

Wow, great harvest you got, Ely. Love the photos rufous-backed kingfisher.

Thank you William. It is very seldom that you will see the Rufous-backed Kingfisher out in the open. You should try to go there now as it is almost a sure thing that you will see this bird.

[Ely Teehankee]

Nov 30, 2011 12:20:50 GMT paulbourdin said:

Fantastic Pictures. The 'Blue-crowned Racquet-tail' is in fact 'Blue-headed Racquet-tail'. Apart from the fact that Blue-crowned apparently does not occur on Coron (according to Kennedy), the whole of the head is blue, not just the crown (which is the top part of the head on a bird).

The female has less blue on the head, and young birds take time to develop the raquets. Possibly the second bird is a juvenile female?

Thank you Paul. I will change the name. I don't know how I got mixed up on this one. That is really interesting to know that both the male and female will eventually have their racquet tails. I suppose those extra tails with one feather each help them stabilize in their flight.

[Ariel Matias]

WOW! Extremely high-quality photos of the Rufus-backed Kingfisher at such high ISO!

[Ely Teehankee]

Nov 30, 2011 20:01:57 GMT Ariel Matias said:

WOW! Extremely high-quality photos of the Rufus-backed Kingfisher at such high ISO!

Thank you Ariel. I used to take the picture of the same bird when I was using the 5D M2 and the pictures do not come out as nice as this. The 1D M4 really does a good job especially with the 1.3 crop factor.

[ka rene bajit]

great for canon to really address the requirements of the growing bird photog population. yesterday, with the generosity canon, phils, and the the team of alain and rey (bird photo workshop) i tried the 400mm F2.8. imagine the potential of a double focal point, and still getting a good amount of light. but most of all the startling quality is the razor-sharp images it takes.

with such a good equipment, everything else depend on the shooter. ely even with age catching up can still manage to roam and hop the islands. that really give me hope. given more free time and resources, i'd take from ely's cues, and learn from him too.

nice photos, ely. but i hope the blue and white flycatcher could have exposed better itself and allow us to enjoy his beauty courtesy of the ely. but hmmm.. gives you time for a return, i guess?

thanks for the set, ely.

[paulbourdin]

I suppose those extra tails with one feather each help them stabilize in their flight.

I very much doubt it or many more species would have evolved in the same way. I can think of a number of species around the world that share this particular feature, but it is a relatively rare one. Mostly these kind of adaptations are to do with display.

[Ely Teehankee]

Dec 1, 2011 1:47:52 GMT ka rene bajit said:

great for canon to really address the requirements of the growing bird photog population. yesterday, with the generosity canon, phils, and the the team of alain and rey (bird photo workshop) i tried the 400mm F2.8. imagine the potential of a double focal point, and still getting a good amount of light. but most of all the startling quality is the razor-sharp images it takes.

with such a good equipment, everything else depend on the shooter. ely even with age catching up can still manage to roam and hop the islands. that really give me hope. given more free time and resources, i'd take from ely's cues, and learn from him too.

nice photos, ely. but i hope the blue and white flycatcher could have exposed better itself and allow us to enjoy his beauty courtesy of the ely. but hmmm.. gives you time for a return, i guess?

thanks for the set, ely.

I wish it was that simple. Not every opportunity presents itself again but we always hope for that to happen. We can always dream and sometimes it comes true. No one lives forever so we always try to make the best of it. The idea is to share what you can and let other people enjoy the same things that you do. Glad that you are enjoying the photos. See you on Sunday.

[Ely Teehankee]

Dec 1, 2011 7:39:04 GMT paulbourdin said:

I suppose those extra tails with one feather each help them stabilize in their flight.

I very much doubt it or many more species would have evolved in the same way. I can think of a number of species around the world that share this particular feature, but it is a relatively rare one. Mostly these kind of adaptations are to do with display.

The racquet tail is beautiful and we are so fortunate to have birds like this in the Philippines. The latest I heard from Steve is that there are about 651 species of birds in the Philippines and 223 of them are endemic.

[Mick Harris]

Another fantastic set of shots Ely.

[Ely Teehankee]

Dec 1, 2011 10:40:32 GMT Mick Harris said:

Another fantastic set of shots Ely.

Thank you Mick. Just checked on Candaba and it is still muddy. Maybe by the time you get here it should be okay. Hopefully!!! LOL.

[Lawrence Lo]

Ely I love the Rufous backed KF I wish I can see this bird one day.

[Ely Teehankee]

Dec 3, 2011 5:39:36 GMT Lawrence Lo said:

Ely I love the Rufous backed KF I wish I can see this bird one day.

It is a beautiful bird and best of all it is almost a sure to see bird. If you have the time, go there this month. It has not been raining and even if it does, it does not rain the whole day. A lot of birds come out to dry their feathers and look for food after a strong but short rain. Let me know if you are going there and I will give you the name of the guide who can lead you to where you can see this small and colorful bird.