Red Eyed Rulers of the Sky

Hello Hivers!

There is a bird that most of us pass by every single day without a second glance, boldly perched on power lines, wooden posts, and even rusty satellite dishes yet up close, it is nothing short of stunning. Meet the Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis), a permanent fixture of the Philippine sky and one of Mindanao's most overlooked beauties. At a distance, they appear simply black. But look closer and their feathers shimmer with deep green and blue iridescence, hiding a secret beneath the surface. Those eyes bloodred and piercing make them impossible to ignore once you truly notice them. I watched pairs surveying the neighborhood from wooden post tops, one standing tall and vigilant while the other preened. I even caught one mid-flight, carrying nesting material in its beak, a quiet reminder that life is always in motion above our heads. You don't need to travel deep into the wilderness to find something worth photographing. Sometimes wonder is right there on the wire outside your window — you just have to look up.

All photos in this post were originally taken by me @dondononardem using my Nikon D3100 and manually edited in Adobe Lightroom.