23 February 2008

Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating

My house is at the corner lot, close to a small stream.
There are a lot of banana and papaya trees grow at the river bank, apart from Bamboo Grass (Thysanolaena maxima). Naturally this attract a lot of birds, such as Yellow-vented Bulbul, Mynas, Glosy Starling, Black-nape Oriole, etc.

One particular bird that attract my attention this week is this Coppersmith Barbet. For two weeks I notice them to be more active with that familiar "tut-tut-tut" call. They also carry fruits/berries at their beak. So, it is the courtship+ mating time now. I posted here a few frames of photo that I manage to shot. All of them of only record shots quality.


Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating Copulation


Male fly in, female waiting below.









Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationJust to record the nature process...
Chronology of events .



18:22:34







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationThe kiss.




18:22:43







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating Copulation




18:22:53







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationMale CopperSmith Barbet, with fruits ready at his beak - as a 'gift' to his girlfriend.











Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating Copulationhi!, are you ready?












Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating Copulationmale landed near the female to pass the fruit.




13:47:43







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationFemale with the 'gift' in her beak.





13:47:43






Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationThe process about to begin...





13:47:47






Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationThe male's sperm, produced in the testes, passes to the cloaca where it is stored until copulation (act of sex). The female also has a cloaca that leads from the ovaries. The female bird unfans her tail, moves it to one side while the male climbs up onto her back or gets close to her. Their cloacas are pressed together and the sperm moves from the male to the female

13:47:48



Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationFor a very good photo of mating barbets, click here - by © Tan Chin Tong




13:47:49







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationTo ensure continuation of species.




13:47:50







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationThis act is called a "cloacal kiss".





13:47:51






Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationSperm can be transferred from male cloaca to the female in a blink of an eye - less than a second




13:47:52






Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating Copulation




13:47:52







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationFinished.




13:47:54







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating Copulationmale resting, after the act.




13:47:55







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationAgain!




13:48:03







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating Copulation




13:48:03







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationFinished.





13:48:04






Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationHere another couple

Fly in.


07:40:51







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating Copulation




07:40:52







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating Copulation




07:40:53








Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating Copulation




07:40:54







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating Copulation




07:40:54







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationFinished, fly out.




07:40:56







Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating CopulationAgain!, with another angle...
13:48:12











Coppersmith Barbet courtship - mating Copulation13:48:14+08:00
CopperSmith Barbet, more info.

Barbet mating from the net, here, by DAISY O’NEILL of Penang.

CopperSmith nesting by Tang Hung Bun here,

and CopperSmith chick manual feeding (Input by Chiu Sein Chiong; images by Ooi Beng Yean and Phang Chee Mun) here.



12 comments:

YC said...

Hi Tabib
The fantastic images of the mating ritual of barbet, are they taken by you? If so, can you grant permission for me to repost in http://besgroup.talfrynature.com/ for a wider audience? More birders should be exposed to these seldom seen images.

Full acknowledgments will be given in the post.

Redzlan aka Tabib said...

Hi YC,

Yes, all those birds ~ CopperSmith Barbet are shot by me, at my backyard in Raub, Malaysia.

There are two pair that I saw this week. I haven't located their nest/hole yet.

Yes, you can post it there. It a privilege that a botanist spotted my blog.

YC said...

Ha, but you linked your account to a few of our postings and I was immediately alerted. Thank you very much for your permission. I will try hard to improve on your account, which is quite comprehensive. Few birders in Singapore are interested in looking at bird behaviour. I am happy to have located you and your wonderful images of bird behaviour. I will be happy to post other accounts in the future. All the best.

the scrabbler said...

Hi Tabib
Fantastic action pics you have here! Surely not many of us have spotted a bird mating!!
Excellent shots, doc... congrats!!

Anonymous said...

hi
Great behaviour shots! well done!
cheers

StarryNight
www.naturepixels.org

Anonymous said...

Yes! Check out this link: http://besgroup.talfrynature.com/2008/04/21/dr-redzlan-abdul-rahman-and-his-birding-paradise/ to read about Tabib.

Anonymous said...

Interesting barbet behaviour you have!

ender

flowergirl said...

Amazing detail! We see a lot of coppersmiths here. But I've never seen this!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Tabib, Great captures of the Coppersmith Barbet. I love the shot of the "kiss" and of course the following courtship and copulation behavior photos and information is excellent. Thank you for sharing.

Anonymous said...

I love the gift of fruit that the male offers to the female. So sweet! These are beautiful birds - hard to imagine being able to see them in your own backyard!!

Anonymous said...

that was terribel

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