The Green-Faced Parrotfinch in the Birding community, from Birdwatchers to photographers, because they suddenly appear whenever bamboo trees flower and mysteriously disappear once the event is over.
Add to the fact that most bamboo species in the Philippines only flower towards the end of their life, which lasts 20 to 100 years, it’s incredibly rare to observe these Birds in the wild.
It’s due to their apparent fixation with Bamboo flowers that they are locally called Mayang Kawayan. But what explains this particular fixation? Green-Faced Parrotfinches suddenly appear whenever bamboo trees flower, only to mysteriously disappear once the event is over.
CURIOSITY PIQUED
In 2015, thousands of Green-Faced Parrotfinch flocked together to feast on the flowering bamboo seeds in Letran, Bataan. Many Birdwatchers and photographers came to witness and document this Bird species, one of the rarest in the country. These Birds would again mysteriously disappear in the years that followed.
Finally, in May 2024, the Bamboo trees near a dried-up stream in Baras, Rizal would flower. Once again, the Green-Faced Parrotfinches would flock to reap its precious seeds.
I decided to seize this rare opportunity to document them for the first time, knowing very well that I might not get another chance to see them in the wild.
The Parrotfinches picked up aquatic Snails from the mud and seemed to drink the liquid inside the shells before dropping the Snails back where they found them.
LIGHTS, CAMERA…
I arrived before sunrise and made a survey of the area to see where the flowering bamboo trees were. Unfortunately, they have already started to wither, and what’s left of the blooms are the empty stalks where the flowers once were.
The other Birds in the area kept me busy while we hoped and waited for the Parrotfinches to arrive. It occurred to me that it was a great opportunity for me to fine-tune my camera settings.
The area was dimly lit due to all the tree cover. I knew it would be a challenge to photograph a small Bird who moved around a lot in such lighting conditions. Thankfully, there were a few other Birds in the area for me to practice on.
You could easily observe those small Birds with a pair of binoculars. If using a camera, a lens of at least 600mm was recommended. It was important to stabilize my camera and lens for the shoot — a monopod would have definitely helped in that situation, although I also had to keep in mind how I would move in my surroundings to follow the Bird.
As I was photographing some of the other birds around me, a pair of Green-Faced Parrotfinches landed on the large boulders in front of me.
WHEN THE PARROTFINCHES CAME
We were all on our toes as we followed the Parrotfinch pair’s every movement, careful not to spook them and observing only from a distance. Three more came and made their way to the damp leaf litter by the puddles of water in between the boulders. They picked up these aquatic Snails from the mud and seemed to drink the liquid inside the shells before dropping the Snails back where they found them.
Once they had their fill, the Parrotfinches then perched on the fresh bamboo stalks to preen their feathers before looking for more snails. The encounter lasted an hour before they finally went off deep into the woods.
The Green-Faced Parrotfinch is currently listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Their appearance this year raised more questions than answers. Some of my fellow Birders theorized that they fed on the slime of the Snails; others said that the liquid they were feeding on could contain traces of the bamboo seeds. Others yet claimed that the Parrotfinches used the Snails as vessels to drink water from the stream.
As the rains of May started, the water began to rise, reinvigorating the once-dry stream. The Snails lay underneath its gushing water, and the Green-Faced Parrotfinches had since gone back deep into the forest together with their secrets.
POSSIBLY CLOSE TO EXTINCTION
The Green-Faced Parrotfinch is currently listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature due to deforestation and poaching for the caged Bird trade. Little is known of this remarkable Bird.
With no conservation efforts to study and save these amazing creatures, they could be closer to extinction than we might think.
