White-breasted Waterhen

Gruiformes - Rallidae - Amaurornis phoenicurus  (Wak-wak)

Medium-sized, fairly common chickenlike marsh bird found in meadows, ditches, riversides, marshes, as well as parks and farmlands in close proximity to humans; often seen foraging in the open. Adults are dark slaty above and white below, with a rusty patch under the tail. Juvenile similar but duller in color. Remarkably variable song is a series of hooting, grunting, or rasping notes or phrases, repeated monotonously, often from an exposed perch.

(eBird)

Seen as common but rare as one of a kind.

Large-billed Crow

Passeriformes - Corvidae - Corvus macrorhynchos (Gagak Paruh Besar)

A large crow that varies in size across its range; note its relatively long, daggerlike bill with curved top. Entirely black with a variable amount of glossiness. A frequent scavenger, feeding on carrion, leftover food from humans, and food stolen from other birds. Often gangs up to attack and chase other birds, especially raptors. Occurs in a wide range of habitats including woodlands, urban landscapes, agricultural fields, and open scrub forests. Call varies, generally a harsh or croaking crow.

(eBird)

Do not trust solely the eyes when in definition of beauty.

Sunda Brush Cuckoo

 Cuculiformes - Cuculidae - Cacomantis sepulcralis (Mantinak Dada Jingga Biasa)

A medium-sized cuckoo, with a warm buff colored throat, chest, and belly. Gray eyering and heavily barred tail. Some females are quite different, a rich reddish brown with heavy black barring. Similar Plaintive Cuckoo is generally paler, with a contrasting gray hood. Most frequently encountered by its incessantly given song, an even series of high-pitched clear whistles that are slightly upslurred.

Love begins with the eyes, stays with the heart.

Gray Heron

 Pelecaniformes - Ardeidae - Ardea cinerea

Generally quite common and conspicuous in wetland habitats from marshes and tidal flats to small ponds, ditches, and wet fields; nests colonially in tall trees. Mainly seen as singles or in small groups, standing quietly in or at the edge of water, less often hunting in fields. Plumage mostly gray overall, with paler neck; adult has white crown, black eyebrows, and black shoulder patch. Like other herons and egrets, flies with neck pulled in to form a bulge.

(eBird)

One's misapprehension, another's treat.

Brown-streaked Flycatcher

Passeriformes - Muscicapidae - Muscicapa williamsoni (Sambar Coret Coklat) 

Small, earthen-toned forest flycatcher. Closely related to Asian Brown (under which it is sometimes regarded as a subspecies) but much browner overall, with more extensive brown on the underparts. Streaking can be either relatively well-defined or smudgy; it is never as clear-cut and solid-looking as on Gray-streaked Flycatcher, and it is never as dark and extensive as in Dark-sided Flycatcher. Behavior like that many other similar flycatchers: sallies from an exposed perch to take prey, often in a clearing or edge area.

(eBird)

What's feast for the eyes, not form, shape, or shade, but simply its presence.

Common Greenshank

 Charadriiformes - Scolopacidae - Tringa nebularia (Kedidi Kaki Hijau Biasa)

Gentle-eyed large wader with a slightly upturned bill. Note overall grayish plumage with white belly and greenish legs. In flight, appears dark above with a broad white stripe up the middle of the back. Slightly larger and lankier than Common Redshank. Usually seen as singles or small groups. Listen for mellow “tewtewtew.” Feeds mainly by striding in water, picking and sweeping with its bill. Breeds across northern Europe and Asia; migrants and wintering birds in Africa, southern Asia and Australia occur in varied wetland habitats.

(eBird)

And what's green to the eyes but serenity.

Common Redshank

Charadriiformes - Scolopacidae - Tringa totanus (Kedidi Kaki Merah Biasa) 

Stocky brown wader with bright red legs; compare with slenderer, far more gracile Spotted Redshank in juvenile and non-breeding plumage. Often rather wary, alerting other birds with its loud, fluty, whistled calls. Bobs tail when nervous, and then flies to show flashy white trailing edge to wings, white rump patch. Feeds in muddy shallows, probing and picking with its bill. Inhabits fresh and coastal wetlands; also breeds on moorland, usually near water.

(eBird)

When seeing red is not danger but delight.

Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker

Piciformes - Picidae - Yungipicus molucsensis (Belatuk-Belacan Kecil Biasa)

Small plain woodpecker of wooded areas from primary rainforest to parklands and forest edges. Brownish overall with a white-striped head, a spotted back, and pale gray streaks on a buffy breast. Male has a small red speck near the back of the crown. Similar Gray-capped Woodpecker is black-and-white, with a less cleanly striped head, cleaner underparts, and unevenly distributed pale spotting on the back and wings. Sunda’s call is a high-pitched rattling trill.

(eBird)

Do you see what I see, perhaps it takes silence.

 

Terns

 Charadriiformes - Laridae - Chlidonias hybrida (Camar Bermisai)

Small buoyant tern. Breeding adult has distinctive dark smoky gray body and contrasting white cheeks (can look like broad white "whiskers" in flight) underneath a black cap. Nonbreeding plumage pale silvery gray overall with a faded shadow of the cap; juvenile has dark-checkered back. Note rather stout bill (albeit thinner than Gull-billed Tern) and square tail; compare to Common, Roseate, and Arctic Terns. Feeds by picking from surface, not splash-diving like typical terns. Common around wetlands, lakes, and rivers.

(eBird)

Whiskered tern (l) Gull-billed tern (r)

Charadriiformes - Laridae - Gelochelidon nilotica (Camar Tiram) 

Medium-sized tern with thick black bill. Very pale overall with black cap in breeding plumage. Legs black. Nonbreeding plumage shows dark cheek patch. Found in marshier habitats than most other terns, in the Americas usually near the coast but not on the ocean (though also occasionally seen on beaches and mudflats); in Europe and Asia can also be found in wetlands well away from the coast. Rarely seen in flocks with other terns; often single or in pairs. Feeds on invertebrates and crabs in mud and marshes; often patrols the edges of ponds but does not grab fish from the water like other terns.

(eBird)

Gull-billed terns

Gull-billed terns and Whiskered terns

I see to connect, and disconnect, to remain focused.

Orange-backed Woodpecker

 Piciformes - Picidae - Chrysocolaptes validus (Belatuk Dada Merah)

Dressed all in patchwork, this crested woodpecker is brightly colored and unmistakable; no other large crested woodpecker in its range has wingbars. Male has a faded reddish crest, an orange breast, and a whitish back with a warm buffy tinge. Female has a brown head and breast and a whiter back. Calls are sharp and strident, and can be given singly or, more commonly, as part of prolonged series in which pairs of notes are squished together to produce a squeaky-toy sound: “pee-pee-pee-peeyit-pee-pee-pee-peeyit!” Found in forests from lowlands up into hilly and montane areas.

(eBird)

Not much required, really, merely colours, colours for dull eyes.