Banana and papaya trees are on the river bank, apart from Bamboo Grass (Thysanolaena maxima). Naturally, this attracts a lot of birds, such as Yellow-vented Bulbul, Mynas, Glossy Starling, Black-nape Oriole, etc.
One particular bird that attracted my attention this week is Coppersmith Barbet. For two weeks I notice them to be more active with that familiar "tut-tut-tut" call. They also carry fruits/berries in their beak. So, it is the courtship mating time now. I posted here a few frames of photos that I managed to shoot. All of them only record shot quality.
The male fly in, and the female waits below.
Just to record the natural process...Chronology of events.
18:22:34
The kiss.18:22:43
18:22:53
Male CopperSmith Barbet, with fruits ready at his beak - as a 'gift' to his girlfriend.
hi!, are you ready?
male landed near the female to pass the fruit.13:47:43
Female with the 'gift' in her beak.13:47:43
The process is about to begin...13:47:47
The 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 and moves it to one side while the male climbs onto her back or gets close to her. Their cloacas are pressed together and the sperm moves from the male to the female13:47:48
For a very good photo of mating barbets, click here - by © Tan Chin Tong13:47:49
To ensure the continuation of species.13:47:50
This act is called a "cloacal kiss".13:47:51
Sperm can be transferred from the male cloaca to the female in the blink of an eye - less than a second13:47:52
13:47:52
Finished.13:47:54
male resting, after the act.13:47:55
Again!13:48:03
13:48:03
Finished.13:48:04
Here another coupleFly in.
07:40:51
07:40:52
07:40:53
07:40:54
07:40:54
Finished, fly out.07:40:56
Again!, with another angle...13:48:12
13:48:14+08:00CopperSmith 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:
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.
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.
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.
Hi Tabib
Fantastic action pics you have here! Surely not many of us have spotted a bird mating!!
Excellent shots, doc... congrats!!
hi
Great behaviour shots! well done!
cheers
StarryNight
www.naturepixels.org
Yes! Check out this link: http://besgroup.talfrynature.com/2008/04/21/dr-redzlan-abdul-rahman-and-his-birding-paradise/ to read about Tabib.
Interesting barbet behaviour you have!
ender
Amazing detail! We see a lot of coppersmiths here. But I've never seen this!!
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.
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!!
that was terribel
well paul i shouldnt give it out but here is there site
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