User:Wee Yeow Chin/sandbox

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Special Interest Groups
Activities of the society have always been generated by Special Interest Groups. Such groups arise spontaneously as and when enthusiastic members come forward to lead and organise activities for other members to participate. Through the years these groups may form and disband, depending on the enthusiasm and willingness of leaders to continue leading.

Bird Ecology Study Group (BESG)
The BESG was formed in 2005 to encourage the study of birds and their links with all aspects of the natural environment. The group was to complement the existing Bird Group, whose activities had by then became totally recreational. Local birdwatchers had already acquired the necessary skills to identify birds in the field but knowledge of bird ecology and behaviour was sadly lacking. Through close collaboration with the many photographers that were then seeking out birds as their subjects, new insights into bird behaviour, from food birds take to nesting habits and interspecific relations, were showcased through crisp digital images and scientific interpretation in the group’s website.

In 1988, when a Javan Myna Acridotheres javanicus was observed picking up ants and placing them on its feathers, no one knew what was going on. But the use of ants to rid the feathers of ectoparasites, known as anting, was well known among western birdwatchers. It was only 17 years later, when the phenomenon was posted in the website that local birdwatchers understood the significance of this behaviour. Similarly, birdwatchers were made aware through the website that species other than raptors and owls regularly cast pellets. These were only two of the many aspects of behaviour that the website made birdwatchers aware of.

Citizen science, then in its doldrums after more than a decade of recreational birding, saw a revival as a result of the many interesting postings. Citizen scientists began contributing snippets of bird behaviour they encountered in the field. With such contributions, postings have been increasing ever since, with more than 2,500 available by late 2011. The website is currently a valuable database on regional bird behaviour, consulted by birdwatchers, ornithologists and naturalists throughout the world.

Contributions by citizen scientists are not always casual observations. There were instances of quality observations that resulted in papers published in peer-reviewed journals, like the case of courtship rituals exhibited by a pair of female hornbills of different species. . The incident of Black-necked Terns Sterna sumatrana mobbing a Grey Heron Ardea cinerea that strayed into the former's colony using projectile-vomiting was another interesting study Another example was the courtship display by a male Olive-backed Sunbird Cinnyris jugularis showing off its seldom seen colourful pectoral tuft feathers.