Oriental Magpie Robin

An Oriental Magpie Robin photographed in Colombo, Sri Lanka

The Oriental Magpie Robin is a common garden bird found in Sri Lanka. It is also one of the most musical birds found on the island. The Oriental Magpie Robin is distributed throughout a number of areas in tropical South and Southeast Asia. The images in this post were all captured in our garden in Colombo, where this species is a regular visitor.  Read on for more images and info.

An Oriental Magpie Robin photographed in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Oriental Magpie Robins breed from March to July in India and January to June in Southeast Asia. They nest in tree hollows or niches in walls and buildings. Most of the nest building is done by the female and usually starts a week or so before the eggs are laid. 

An Oriental Magpie Robin photographed in Colombo, Sri Lanka

These birds mainly feed on insects and other invertebrates. Globally, this species is considered one of "little concern". However, in some areas, this bird is on the decline. These birds were common in Hong Kong and Singapore in the 1920's but numbers declined in the 1970's. It is presumed that this was caused because of the competition of the introduced Common Mynahs. 

These images were captured with a Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens.

Oriental Garden Lizard

An Oriental Garden Lizard

The Oriental Garden Lizard is widely distributed throughout Asia and has also been introduced to many other parts of the world. It is an insectivore which is often incorrectly referred to as the bloodsucker due to it's red throat. More images and info after the jump.

An Oriental Garden Lizard

The coloration of these lizards vary from an uniform brownish or greenish olive or yellowish. The ground colour of the lizard is generally a light brownish olive but the lizard can change it to bright red or black or even a mixture of the two. This change is sometimes confined to the head but can also be distributed throughout the body and tail. Black streaks radiate from the eye and some of them are continued over the throat, running obliquely backwards. These bright changeable colours are peculiar to the male during breeding season. 

It is very common in Sri Lanka and the specimens found on the island seem to be relatively large. A specimen measuring 16 inches has been recorded in Sri Lanka. 

An Oriental Garden Lizard

Males are highly territorial during the mating season. They are known to discourage intruding males by brightening their red heads. The males try to attract females by inflating their throats and drawing attention to its coloured head. About 10 - 20 eggs are laid and buried in moist soil. The eggs are long, covered with leathery skin and are known to hatch in about 6 - 7 weeks. 

The lizard is known to feed on insects, and small vertebrates, including rodents and other lizards. The lizards teeth are designed to grip prey and not to tear it up. Prey is swallowed whole after it has been captured and stunned by shaking it vigorously. 

 

A male Oriental Garden Lizard

These images were shot in Kandy, with the Canon 7D and the 100 - 400mm lens.

Oriental Scarlet