Green-faced Parrotfinch of Bataan

[Ely Teehankee]

It takes a little over 2 hours from Manila to Letran (127 kilometers), Bataan if you leave early enough to avoid the traffic. Peter & I were met by Father Oscar better known as Father Auckhs, the most affable priest I ever met. Our target was the Green-faced Parrotfinch (Erythrura viridifacies) 4 3/4 inches. This bird is seldom seen, although they travel in groups as much as several hundreds at a time. Flying fast and difficult to recognize because of their size. You know it is them when they are attracted by the flowering bamboo trees locally know as "Buho" (Schizostachyum lumampao). Commonly used as fence in the rural area and widely used in making the
"Sawali" a kind of bamboo matting. It is said that they flower when the bamboo tree is about to die which takes about 10 years. The flower has seeds which the Parrotfinch loves to eat. Our first sighting was around 7:00 AM where a few of them stayed for just a couple of minutes. At around 11:00 we saw a group of 50 in another cluster of bamboo trees but it was difficult to get a clear shot. We had lunch and continued to wait for them until about 4:30 PM. There were over a hundred of them swarming around the flowers and expertly extracting the seeds. This lasted for about 28 minutes giving us enough time to get some open shots of this delightful bird.


Canon EOS 1DX, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, M-3.6 Mongoose Gimbal Action Head. Manual exposure in available light.



1/640 sec., f/6.3, ISO 1600




1/400 sec., f/8, ISO 400




1/500 sec., f/8, ISO 800

[Romy Ocon]

Wow.... congrats on catching this rarely seen bird, Ely! I've never observed this species in the field.

[Ely Teehankee]

Feb 12, 2015 23:55:44 GMT Romy Ocon said:

Wow.... congrats on catching this rarely seen bird, Ely! I've never observed this species in the field.

The first time I saw this bird was about two years ago. I was late in going and the flowers were gone so I only saw a few of them and they were too far to even be categorized as documentary shots. This time we are seeing the flowers in full bloom. The flowers have seeds that the Green-faced Parrotfinch loves to eat. They come in swarms, several hundred at a time. It seems that they like to travel & eat together. LOL. Unfortunately the "Buho" flowers only when they are about to die and this happens to a particular tree after about 10 years. This may be the reason why it is rare that we get to see this bird. You can still go now as the flowers are still plenty but will soon be gone in a week or two.

[Tateo Osawa]

All nice shots, Ely. Congratulation! Rare and beautiful small birds.

[Agerico M. De Villa]

Photos I would have loved to have taken myself. Congratulations, Ely!

[Ely Teehankee]

Feb 13, 2015 14:42:48 GMT Tateo Osawa said:

All nice shots, Ely. Congratulation! Rare and beautiful small birds.

Thank you Tateo. If you were here you too would be able to take pictures of this bird. See you soon.

[Ely Teehankee]

Feb 14, 2015 5:07:25 GMT Agerico M. De Villa said:

Photos I would have loved to have taken myself. Congratulations, Ely!

If you have a chance to go to Letran, Bataan, they are still there. It is only when you have a picture of this bird that the craving for it stops. LOL. Thank you Prop for your appreciation.