Camiguin's Finest

Male Southern Rufous Paradise Flycatcher

And on to the actual planned birding day for Camiguin! This will be my most bird-focused blog post so far. 

Just a quick recap - Camiguin has 3 proper endemics: the Hanging Parrot, Boobook, and the Bulbul. There are also a couple of subspecies endemics, including the Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, Black-naped Monarch, and Yellowish White-eye. Outside of these endemics is also one of the best spots for Southern Rufous Paradise Flycatcher and Dimorphic Dwarf Kingfishers, both of which aren’t the easiest to find elsewhere. 

The birding site along the road

Gloria picked us up by motorcycle and brought us 10 more minutes to the interior of the roadside forest. The moment we arrived, we were greeted with a lot of activity with the Southern Rufous Paradise flycatcher. Philippine Pied Fantail and Mangrove Blue-flycatcher. Activity continued to pick up with two Dimorphic Dwarf Kingfishers, which gave us excellent views. The name Dimorphic comes from the fact that it comes in two morphs: the light and dark morph. I’m not entirely sure how it works but it seems that the majority of Camiguin, including our own sightings, were of the sky blue light morph. This species is found across Visayas and Mindanao, but density is much higher on the small islands of Camiguin and Tablas. 

I'm so bummed I didn't fully get the other bird!!

Up until 2022, the vast majority of local and even international birders had not seen this species, as these areas aren’t really among the most visited birding destinations. They only picked up in “popularity” (I really don’t know how else to frame it) and accessibility, thanks to Tres Marias Farm in the much easier-to-reach Iloilo, which had a family of dark morph dwarf kingfishers that now make up a large portion of photos online. Camiguin offers the light morph and incredible density though! 

Dimorphic Dwarf Kingfisher: Photo taken a 5:50AM so still very dark

I didn't realize just how common they were on Camiguin. Even on the way to the site on a motorcycle, we saw a few individuals!

An ant plant (Myrmephytum beccarii) and orchids (Dendrobium crumenatum)

Now satisfied with our kingfisher sighting, we moved into the DENR office a few meters inside the road. There we were serenaded with the melodic call of the Camiguin Bulbul. I know I made the active decision to not make this my 500th lifer, but this actually is an excellent bird with one of the best calls of any bulbul in the country, size, and it looks great with its gradient-like plumage. This species was formerly part of the Yellowish Bulbul but was split as it has a different call and is much darker.

Camiguin Bulbul

I thought I'd get better photos! 

The melodious call of the Camiguin Bulbul - definitely one of the best Philippine bird calls

We had a quick flyby of the hanging parrot, and with that, I had seen my 501st lifer! This species’s status as a full species might not be for long though. Compared to the very familiar Philippine Hanging-parrot, the Camiguin Hanging-parrot does not have sexual dimorphism, which means that, for the most part, males and females are indistinguishable. The CHP’s look closer to PHP females with a complete lack of red on its chest and nape while having a much more prominent blue face and longer tails and wing. It’s not for me to say what deserves to be a species or not, so I will just trust the experts.  Unfortunately for us, we would not be able to get any good looks at this species at all on this trip and I am not able to see how different they are for myself. 

Birding In Slippers with Ens Trips

Everett's White-eye

Everett's White-eye and the butt of an Orange-bellied Flowerpecker

We spent the rest of the morning trying and failing for perched views of the hanging parrot but nearby there was a hagimit tree where we had a flock of Everett’s White-eye and the endemic subspecies of Black-naped Monarch and Orange-bellied Flowerpecker. The Orange-bellied Flowerpecker has a ridiculous 18 subspecies, 11 of which are found in the Philippines. I try to take note of every subspecies I see but it becomes especially important to me to track them when they have a separate plate on Desmond’s Birds of the Philippines. There are 3 main groups of subspecies in the Philippines, with the variation on the male side coming from the amount of gray on the throat and dark-ness of the plumage while the female subspecies vary in the yellowness and grayness of the females. I wouldn’t be able to tell at all, but the isidroi subspecies of Camgiuin is larger and has a paler chin. Meanwhile, the Black-naped Monarch was quite interesting as most of the birds lack the black nape and are darker blue even for the females!!

The endemic subspecies catarmensis of the Black-naped Monarch. The birds are actually much more blue and have smaller or even no black napes.

Linked a female bird of this subspecies here: It's still really blue for a female!!!

The endemic isidroi subspecies Orange-bellied Flowerpecker. Check out the very gray throat. The birds on mindanao also don't have a yellow rump.

As noon came, we called it a day mostly happy with our haul but frustrated with the Hanging-parrot views. That afternoon, we ended up doing more touristy stuff, visiting the White Island, which had a beautiful white sandbar, and enjoyed the sunset at the Sunken Cemetery. 

White Island all the way from our hotel

A beautiful sunset at the Sunken Cemetery

We had no further plans of birding but Gloria, who probably sensed the frustration over a lack of hanging parrot views, messaged and offered to take us around quickly for the next day. We decided to focus our search right at our hotel and we had the right idea. There was a much higher density of hanging parrots and had numerous flybys but still no perched views. We didn’t get to add much to our species total, but at our last stop, we called in a male Rufous-lored Kingfisher, which made for a great trip closer. It is currently listed as a vulnerable species, but it does seem more tolerant of plantations and scrub habitats and has a much wider range across Visayas and Mindanao, so I do fully expect it to be downlisted one day, given how the IUCN has downlisted most Philippine species. This species is probably the most underrated of the kingfishers - it’s like if you turned a Collared Kingfisher into a forest bird and made it much cooler. It’s also one of the few species where the female looks so much better than the male, as they have an orange wash. 

A male Rufous-lored Kingfisher

Super underrated bird!!!!

Apart from the perched views of the hanging parrot, I was hoping to see the Camiguin endemic subspecies of Yellowish White-eye (which apparently has proper split potential) and Writhed Hornbills, but unfortunately, we saw neither. It still surprises me that there's actually a small population of these large hornbills on a tiny island. Down the line, I definitely want to return to Camiguin for the White-eye, which is easier to find in the upper reaches of the forest. More importantly, this area also has Sunda Thrush records, which is probably one of my most wanted non-endemics. 

Our birding group!!!! 

Spathoglottis pilcata

Relative to other birding sites in the Philippines, Camiguin probably has the least logging of any province. The forests (apart from a dumb road widening projects at birding site) are mostly left alone and according to Gloria, there is much less poaching nowadays and while the species total won’t ever be as high as the large islands density is quite good. Outside of birding, the island really is a proper vacation place with great beaches and a nice laidback vibe that I would love to return to. 

Camiguin offers a mix of mountains and the forest

and relatively peaceful white sand beaches

Next up - we're going out of the Philippines for the first and into the the temperate forests of Southern China!!

Bonus: May have wanted to extend a few days if not for Tyler the Creator concert we watched in Manila the next day! I had a few more vids I wanted to post but I fanboy too loud on them... woops....