Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2005

The sky above the U n iv e rs ity is g e n e ro u s ly graced w ith the presence o f m o rta l cousins o f the legendary creature. C U H K is home to m any species o f lo cal b ird s. Its lu s h v e g e ta tio n also plays ho st to m ig ra n t b ird s passing th ro u g h in s p rin g and a u tum n and those fle e in g from the intense coldness o f n o rth e rn lands in w in te r. A to ta l o f 131 b ird species have been recorded on campus in 2003, representing about 30 per cent o f the 448 species on the H o n g K ong list. House Swift Am o n g the resident po pu la tio n s on campus, the House S w ift o r L ittle S w ift is a lo ca lly im p o rta n t species. The concrete c liff-lik e w a lls o f the U n iv e rs ity library, where ove r 500 House Sw ifts have b u ilt th e ir nests, are home to the largest s w ift colony in H o n g Kong. The sm all, sm oke y-bla ck b ird s fly in flocks and, in flig h t, lo o k like small anchors due to th e ir sho rt square ta il and lo n g n a rrow w ings. They also make a con tinuou s 's i-s i' call. In s p r in g , e v e n th e m o s t u n p e r c e p tiv e pedestrians cannot he lp n o ticin g the b irds w hen they w a lk past the lib ra ry walls, and if a b it short on lu c k , m a y e ve n be com e ta rg e ts o f th e ir d ro p p in g s . C om p la in ts about d ro p p in g s have le d the Estates M anagem en t O ffice to step u p cleaning o f the g ro u n d u n d e r the b ird s ' homes a n d n o w th e p ro b le m seems to h a ve been ameliorated. N am ed fo r th e ir ra p id flig h t, House Sw ifts are q u ite comm on in H o n g Kong, especially in o ld tow n s lik e Taipo and Yuen Long. They b u ild nests o f feathers and fine grass u n d e r the eaves and ledges o f houses and have the unusual habit o f occu p ying th e ir nests a ll year ro u n d instead o f ju s t d u rin g the b re e d in g season. T hey feed on insects w h ic h th e y catch in m id -a ir. These s w ifts are b e lie v e d to be re s p o n s ib le fo r e lim in a tin g 10 m illio n sm a ll insects fro m the campus per day. Collared Scops Ow l In 2001, the H o n g K on g B ird W atching Society conducted a 15-m onth n ig h t b ird su rve y on 19 sites th ro u g h o u t the te rrito ry . The C h ine se U n ive rsity was one o f the sites. Am on g the more in te re s tin g species fo u n d o n C U H K cam pus w e re se v e ra l p a irs o f C o lla re d Scops O w ls sighted on C hung C h i campus. A sm all o w l and one o f the commonest ow ls in the te rrito ry , the Collared Scops O w l has reddish b ro w n iris, da rk b ro w n back and a ligh te r be lly w ith da rk streaks. Its call is a soft 'hoo -o ' repeated at an in te rv a l of about 10 seconds. Cuckoos A lso spotted on campus d u rin g the survey were m em bers o f the C uckoo fam ily , in c lu d in g the In d ia n Cuckoo, the C h e s tn u t-w in g e d Cuckoo, the Large H a w k Cuckoo, the P la in tiv e Cuckoo, and the C omm on Koel. Cuckoos are k n o w n fo r th e ir song. In fact the name 'cuckoo' is an onomatopoeia — a w o rd w h ic h im ita te s the n a tu ra l noises made b y the b ird . A cuckoo clo ck is a clo ck th a t announces in te rv a ls o f tim e w ith a s o u n d re s em b lin g a cuckoo's call and o fte n w ith the sim u ltaneou s CUHK Campus • Avifauna and Fauna on CUHK Campus 13 Black-necked Starling