There are many birds that have been spotted in our Davao Family Resort. Some of them we have taken pictures of and some we have not. At some point of a wildlife photographer’s life they have come to a point of just plainly appreciating the beauty of wildlife from resorts in Calinan Davao City. 

There are moments wherein wildlife photographers have a very rare moment of birds’ activity right in their lenses but they would rather not take that shot but just appreciate the beauty of that very rare moment. Taking a picture would already cause disturbance, one snap in a very silent place would alarm the birds to flee.

Here are some of the many birds that were spotted at different sessions of bird watching activities. All these birds are endemic birds which means they are native and restricted in the area.

Black-faced Coucal

is a huge cuckoo from the Cuculidae family. It has a cryptic behavior and stays longer on a forest canopy. As a cuckoo, you can never expect it to perform a dynamic flight. Instead, it is a huge bird with black face, yellowish neck, light-brown wings and black tail that always hops between branches on a canopy, it is the best cue for this bird. Often, its call confuses birders as it sounds similarly to a White-eared Brown Dove. Just be keen enough to determine its call which has a fading melody from higher to lower ‘wooop, wooop, wooop’ sound. 

Local Name: Kokok  

Philippine Coucal

belongs to the Cuculidae family. This bird has a very cryptic and shy behavior because it will squeeze right through bushes and clusters of leaves if it sees a human figure. However, it has a loud and distinctive call. It has a black head, body, and tail with dark-brown wings. As a cuckoo, it is not a dynamic flyer. It will instead hop from one bush to another. Most of the time it can be found creeping in lower vegetation, unlike its cousin “Black-faced Coucal” which loves to stay most of the time in forest canopies. It creates a loud call that sounds like ‘shi-go-kok, shi-go-kok, shi-go-kok’.

Local Name: Kokok 

Short-billed Brown Dove

is one of the most locally captured birds in the Philippines. As a Philippine endemic, it has a strong cultural significance among  indigenous people in the country. They can be captured using gumtree latex as a trap. Once they perch on it, they can no longer fly. In captivity, they serve ominous birds among Bagobo tribes. When White-eared Brown Doves in the cage create a sound prior to them jumping off, this denotes danger or accident along the way. 

Cultural practices could not harm this bird species to extinction. One that is rather more imminent is hunting. 

Local Name: Alimokon

Rufous-lored Kingfisher

is a lowland, old forest specific endemic bird which is considered as a vulnerable species due to its dependence on old growth forest. This bird is also present in Malagos watershed which is an isolated and remnant original lowland forest in Davao City. 

Common Name: Tingkarol

Southern Silvery Kingfisher

is a small-size kingfisher in a lowland to mid-montane elevation that can be found on top of the rocks and fallen branches along the river or stream. Among several species of birds identified present inside the Malagos Garden Resort, SSK is highly regarded as ecologically important and represents the viability of the Malagos creek. Malagos as a community is a huge factor for the viability of this species in the area. This species depends so much on the wellness of the Malagos creek

Guaiabero

can be found in a flock of 15 to 20 individuals crossing the vegetation of the car park area, main entrance and inside Malagos Garden Resort. You can easily notice them because they are noisy flyers. Every flop they make, they create a sound in a high tone. They can be quite tricky to see because they blend snuggly with the leaves but once you get a glimpse of their beautiful plumage the concentration and patience needed to find one will be worth it.

Philippine Hanging Parrot

is known as Colasisi or Kusi in different dialects. Colasisi is a terminology that sounds derogatory because it denotes a third-party lover, mistress or concubine. Perhaps it is taken from the characteristics of this bird that is hanging on a perch. In captivity, this bird is also observed to sleep up-side-down which establishes its hanging characteristic.

Common Name: Colasisi (Tagalog), Kusi (Visayan)

Philippine Pied Fantail

is a melodious bird that thrives in different types of vegetation and land in the Philippines. They are often observed to attack pets like dogs and cats because they are very territorial. There was even an instance  wherein one of this species was observed fighting its own image reflected on the glass window of a hospital building. 

Common Name: Balangkiyod or Bangkiyod

Philippine Bulbul

is a large sized bulbul that thrives from relatively lowland to mid-montane elevation. They are known to create varied sounds that mimics other bird calls. 

Common Name: Tagmaya

Brown Tit-Babbler

are easier heard than seen especially early in the morning. Most of the time, they stay in lower or ground vegetation-- cryptic and elusive. It moves so fast that when you get a quality photo of them as a bird photographer, it is something to brag about. To have them in your list takes a lot of patience, familiarity of their call and the type of vegetation they love to dwell on. 

Philippine Magpie-Robin

is an endemic bird that you can expect in your garden even if you live in downtown areas. As long as there are fruiting plants in the vicinity, you can expect it to be there feasting on ripe fruits. They are usually in mixed-flock with Orange-bellied Flowerpeckers. You will surely encounter these beautiful species if you will be bird watching in Malagos Garden Resort. 

Common Name: Tamsi

Red-keeled Flowerpecker

is an endemic bird that you can expect in your garden even if you live in downtown areas. As long as there are fruiting plants in the vicinity, you can expect it to be there feasting on ripe fruits. They are usually in mixed-flock with Orange-bellied Flowerpeckers. You will surely encounter these beautiful species if you will be bird watching in Malagos Garden Resort. 

Common Name: Tamsi

Pygmy Flowerpecker

is a congeneric species of the Red-keeled Flowerpecker- both are Philippine endemic. At the later part of its juvenile stage or near adulthood, you might get confused as it looks closer to the immature Red-keeled Flowerpecker. To distinguish it properly, always refer to its beautiful plumage: a combination of black, grey and ashy-white colors. It will not develop a red spot on its keel-bone section or breast and of course, is relatively smaller than the Red-keeled Flowerpecker. Both Pygmy Flowerpecker and Orange-bellied Flowerpecker have smaller sizes compared to the Red-keeled Flowerpecker. There is plumage dimorphism between male and female Pygmy Flowerpecker. The Male has a combination of black, grey and ashy-white colors on the throat while the female has a grey and a little olive-grey combination which is dull to look at.

Purple-throated Sunbird

is a very lovely bird to look at. In Malagos, there are two congeneric species of Purple-throated Sunbirds, the older form which is the Purple-throated Sunbird (Leptocoma sperata) and the newly established species the Orange-lined Sunbird (Leptocoma juliae). Both of these congeneric species have purple throats but they vary entirely on the color of their breast. 

Common Name: Tamsi

Make a reservation and admire the beauty of Davao bird watching in Malagos today! Phone calls and chat inquiries on social media are what we always look forward to. We always have one eye waiting for your call. Do not delay! Contact us now!