Ryukyu Scops Owl, Northern Boobook, Ruddy Kingfisher, Black Paradise Flycatcher (video)
Breeding is going well for the Ryukyu quartet: Ryukyu Scops Owl, Northern Boobook, Ruddy Kingfisher, and Black Paradise Flycatcher. Temperatures on Ishigaki Island have not been rising this season and insect activity has been sluggish, so I am a little worried about the effect this may have on chick-rearing.
I found a Ryukyu Scops Owl sitting motionless in the forest in the rain. A Brown Hawk-Owl was incubating right nearby. I wonder if there's no conflict between them.
A Ruddy Kingfisher appeared in the sugarcane field. After catching prey it didn't eat on the spot — it carried it off. The chicks may have hatched.
A Ryukyu Scops Owl incubating just a stone's throw from my house. This is the male on watch. This makes three consecutive breeding seasons here.
A Brown Hawk-Owl also incubating. This is the male on guard duty. It raises its young in the same tree hollow every year.
A Japanese Paradise Flycatcher with its nest built on a Thespesia populnea branch. On Ishigaki Island they also nest in Macaranga tanarius, Rhizophora stylosa, Barringtonia racemosa, and various vines, in addition to Thespesia populnea.