Day 12: Whilst the chirps of the nestlings are in no way melodious, Oriental Magpie-Robins are prized for their song, and are kept as caged birds by people who love that sort of thing (and don’t care about putting “all heaven in a rage”). Such was the love of these songbirds that they became virtually extinct in Singapore in the early ’80s (fewer than 50 birds survived in the whole country). A subsequent attempt to reintroduce them to Singpore failed; the released birds were simply captured by modern-day Papagenos.

Fortunately, the range of this bird is vast, so they are not, as a species, under threat. They are found from India and Pakistan in the west to the Philippines in the east, and from the foothills of the Himalayas in the north to Java in the south.

Oriental Magpie-Robins, Day 12

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