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Palawan Sun Skink

    Leaves, twigs, and barks that have fallen to the ground make up leaf litter, and it's home to a wide variety of plants and animals. Most of the tiny animals found in the leaf litter are invertebrates. They are important food source for toads, skinks, and other small amphibians and reptiles that rely on the shelter and moisture provided by the leaf litter. One of the many creatures living in the leaf litter habitats of Palawan is the Palawan Sun Skink ( Eutropis sahulinghangganan ), a newly described species of skink endemic to Palawan. The name Eutropis sahulinghangganan derives from the Tagalog "sa huling" or "sa huli ng" (meaning in the last), and "hangganan" (meaning frontier). Palawan Sun Skink     The Palawan Sun Skink inhabits thick coastal forests, mangroves, as well as secondary forests and primary forests up in the mountains. I have seen this skink near the peak of Mount Beaufort at elevations of around 1000 masl, but the population of thi...

The Olive-backed Sunbird of Palawan

Cinnyris jugularis aurora by Jojo De Peralta
     Cinnyris jugularis aurora (Tweeddale, 1878) are a noisy, fast flying small songbirds that feed largely on nectar. They can be seen hovering on flowers when feeding, but they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. It is often encountered in the lowland second growths, mangroves, agricultural farms and towns. This sunbird has adapted well to humans and can be found not just in the forested area but even in fairly densely populated areas.

Cinnyris jugularis aurora by Jojo De Peralta
A female Olive-backed Sunbird building a nest.

     The Olive-backed Sunbird are common across Palawan and often found in pairs, especially during breeding season. The male and female are easily told apart because the male is more colorful and showy than the female. They are known to breed from December to June. The purse-like nest, composed of woven grass, spider webs, feathers, leaves and other plant fibers is attached to small branches usually low down in bushes and trees, sometimes close to the ground. Females do the hard work of weaving and collecting materials for the nest.

Cinnyris jugularis aurora by Jojo De Peralta
Cinnyris jugularis during incubation period.
     Cinnyris jugularis has twenty-one subspecies currently recognized and if I am not mistaken, four subspecies are present in the Philippines. The C. j. aurora (Tweeddale, 1878), C. j. woodi (Mearns, 1909), C. j. jugularis (Linnaeus, 1766) and C. j. obscurior Ogilvie-Grant, 1894. Palawan is home to the aurora race, the male has an additional orange patch on the chest that lacks in the most widespread variety of Olive-backed Sunbird in the Philippines.

Cinnyris jugularis aurora by Jojo De Peralta
Cinnyris jugularis pair.


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