More Birds of Tangkoko, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Much as I try to write posts about certain groups of birds of a specific location (“Woodpeckers of Hokkaido”, “Boring Birds of Northern Germany”), there are usually some species left. Rather than not showing you these species at all, they tend to end up in posts such as this one. And at least some of them are well worth showing.

In most people’s opinion, the Eurasian Tree Sparrow is probably not among these birds.

Of course, they are wrong. But then, humans often are.

But even those wrong about the sparrow would probably agree that the Purple-winged Roller is worth a look.

It is endemic to Sulawesi and some smaller islands around it.

The link to the sparrow is a slightly gruesome one: while Purple-winged Rollers mainly feed on insects and lizards, there is one paper describing a roller killing and feeding on a Eurasian Tree Sparrow on Sulawesi (“Predation of a small passerine by the Purple-winged Roller Coracias temminckii, an endemic species of Sulawesi”, Marc Argeloo, James Fitzsimons, Kukila, 15, 115-117).

The scientific name temminckii refers to Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778-1858), a Dutch ornithologist who is commemorated in about 20 bird names (both scientific and common ones). Must have been one hell of a guy. 

Of course, I could have prepared a separate post titled “Woodpecker of Sulawesi”, as I only saw one woodpecker species: The Ashy Woodpecker. But that would have been slightly weird.

Like the roller, it is endemic to Sulawesi and some surrounding islands.

The scientific genus name Mulleripicus (full name: Mulleripicus fulvus) refers to a German, namely Salomon Müller (1804-1864), a German explorer and collector in the East Indies.

He was sent there by Temminck to collect specimens, resulting in what must be the ultimate humiliation for a German: having to publish in Dutch, resulting in titles like “Reizen en onderzoekingen in den Indischen archipel, gedaan op last der Nederlandsche Indische regering, tusschen de jaren 1828 en 1836, 1857”.

As common for woodpeckers, the red bits on the head indicate a male individual. Another indication of gender inequality: Male Ashy Woodpeckers do about 75% of the excavation of the nest hole, at least according to one observation (source: Cornell).

Several of the Tangkoko birds can also be found in Shanghai, so I will only mention them rather briefly: Black-naped Oriole …

… Hair-crested Drongo …

… Purple Heron …

… and Scaly-breasted Munia.

Unsurprisingly, a few species are named after the island: the Sulawesi Babbler …

… which is described rather uncharitably as a “smallish, relatively featureless babbler” by Cornell …

… the Sulawesi Myna …

… which Cornell calls “distinctive”, probably so as to not be accused of prejudice against the island …

… and the Sulawesi Hanging Parrot …

… which apparently now should be called Great Hanging Parrot.

I usually pretend not to have seen species that I only got bad photos of, but I will make an exception for the Pale Blue Monarch …

… (which is probably a different species than the Black-naped Monarch) …

… and the Philippine Megapode, a burrow nester using decaying tree roots or stumps of very large trees (source: Cornell).

It is easier to get decent photos of the Sooty-headed Bulbul.

But not quite as satisfying.

The Buff-banded Rail has a huge range that includes The Philippines, large parts of Indonesia as well as Australia …

… and a matching large number of subspecies (21 according to Cornell).

Note to parents of annoying teenagers: adult Buff-banded Rails evict their chicks when they are about 5–9 weeks old.

My photos also do not quite do the Yellow-billed Malkoha justice.

While the scientific name Rhamphococcyx calyorhynchus sounds like the bird had a small role in Jurassic Park, the calyorhynchus highlights the beautiful bill of the species (kalos beautiful; rhunkhos bill).

The lack of information on this species is clear in the Cornell profile stating “Common in suitable habitat in Dumoga-Bone National Park in mid-1980s”, information that surely is rather irrelevant in 2024.

While Malkohas are cuckoo species, it does not seem to be clear whether this one is a brood parasite, as indicated by the sentence “Although apparently a nesting species, a juvenile was fed by a Crimson Sunbird”.

And yes, it is another Sulawesi endemic.

Finally, a few nonbirds. Yes, they exist, though I usually try hard to ignore them.