Friday, 26 September 2008

Woodpecker feathers?

Would probably need some help from the local birders here. Was finding these feathers (one at a time) at the Botanic Gardens yesterday, at the base of one of the stairs. Our in house bird conservationist says that it's from some woodpecker, and a quick Google search seems to agree (at least to a noob like me, where the distinctive white spots seem characteristic)...
P1040205 four pretty feathers

Three of the four feather found have the nice yellow colouration on the left side of the feather, and I'm hoping that it won't fade over time. All four also have a slightest blue tinge on the mid-rib(?) section. They're all about 7cm or so in length. The stairs that I kept finding them is situated under a rather tall tree (which unfortunately I cannot identify either...). Could these be from the Sunda woodpecker?
P1040208 close-up of one

Unfortunately, when I looked up the tree, I wasn't able to spot any birds. Didn't hear any bird calls either. I know that there are resident magpie robins in the vicinity (besides the usual assortment of crows and mynahs and pigeons) but these mysterious feathers don't seem to have come from them. Don't quite fit the colouring of the Sunda woodpecker either (though I could be wrong)... And it's unlikely that somebody dropped these "specimens" (no signs of breakages on any of the feathers) since I found them throughout the day, and only one feather each time I walked past those stairs.... Strange isn't it?

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