Many years ago now, I lived in a house with a large garden. Next to the house was an old Madras Thorn (Pithecellobium dulce) tree which spread its branches to within a few feet of the walls. This tree flowered and produced fruit on a fairly regular basis but as far as I know this was not edible. At least I never tried to do so and perhaps this was wise. The fruit would on occasions fall to the ground during the day, after the gardener had swept up what had fallen overnight. It seems that some, if not all, of this was overripe and in some cases had even begun to ferment.

On many occasions I would come home from the office in the evening and find Javan Mynas (Acridotheres javanicus) on the verandah apparently dead to the world while others were staggering around tipsily having indulged a little too heavily in the overripe fruit. I took no notice of them nor they of me. By the morning they would all have disappeared, presumably with monumental hangovers.

Sadly for the mynas the tree had eventually to be cut down because the roots were causing trouble and furthermore it was infested with large millipedes which appeared to eat the layer under the bark, causing it to peel off and this eventually killed some of the big branches.

Contributed by Richard Hale
Image of ‘drunken’ myna courtesy of Saifuddin Suran

Additional comment by Nature Consultant, R Subaraj

Richard’s article is most interesting. We have long known that butterflies get rather tipsy drinking from fermented fruits and this can be viewed easily in captive collections at any butterfly farm. They are so stoned that you can place your finger under their legs and they will crawl onto them.

In many areas, particularly forested habitats, various birds and other animals feed on the fallen fruits lying on the ground below many a tree. Some of these fruits are obviously rotting and fermenting. One wonders whether these have a similar effect on other species. It would be great to receive feedback from anyone who has witnessed any similar disorientated behaviour.

Additionally, has anyone else seen anything feeding on the fruits of the Madras Thorn? This tree used to be a common sight around Singapore when I was growing up but nowadays, they are rather uncommon.

I was walking along Bedok canal at 11 pm one night when I spotted what looked like a large heron hunting in it. Couldn’t have been my eyes playing tricks on me because there was a Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) nearby and it was definitely dwarfed by the larger heron. The large heron was distinctly whitish with black around the head and I thought around the wings as well, but it was dark. However, the neck was clearly whitish.

I went back to the canal the next night with a pair of binoculars but the large heron was not there. However, one of the foraging herons seemed to be a bit smaller and greyer than the usual Night Heron. I was wondering if that could be a Striated Heron (Butorides striatus). But then every bird that I spotted in the past had been a Night Heron.

I returned to the canal again a few nights later at 8.30 pm. And the large heron was there, standing on the side of the canal, on a set of steps. Its head was definitely moving, so it wasn’t asleep. Again, a Night Heron was nearby, this time perched on the railing.

A Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) does hunt along Bedok canal in the day. I have got used to seeing a solitary Grey Heron hunting along this canal on the rare occasions I walked by it during the day. I have seen it remaining there till twilight gloom sets in, though I have never seen it catch anything yet. I am not sure if it is the same bird I spotted foraging at night.

Contributed by Timothy Pwee

Timothy’s account provides excellent feedback on the feeding habits of our usually diurnal herons. Night Herons are regularly seen in canals and along waterways at night. We also have records of Striated Herons feeding in canals at night. However, I do not recall any prior local observations of Grey Herons feeding at night. Timothy’s sighting provides evidence that this species does take advantage of nocturnal low tides.

Not only does this observation adds to our local knowledge of the Grey Heron’s feeding habits, it also provides information about the bird’’s adaptation to our urban environment. What other species utilise our concrete waterways at night and also during the day? We have records of several feeding in canals/drains during the day but the suitability of these urban habitats depends on their design.

Input by our Bird Specialist, R Subaraj

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The family of three doves suddenly made their appearance on the 22nd October after an absence of nearly a month (see 18). They have since returned every morning for a week. At about 8am or a little later, sometimes announcing their presence with a series of cooing, they would be in my garden, foraging for seeds and possibly ants. They were always around the newly trimmed patch, moving together, never far from one another.

They appeared tame, allowing me to move close to about a metre away, sometime much less. They would stay in the garden for about two to three hours before one of them (possibly the adult) would fly off, soon followed by the other two.

On one particular morning all three rested along the driveway, stretching their wings and relaxing in the sun, as if enjoying a hard earned rest after a period of foraging. They remained for about 5 minutes before moving to a higher location where all three sat and preened for another 15 minutes. Then suddenly they all flew off, making a soft, squishing sound.

It has been a week now and they have not returned. Will they make a surprise return? Or have the three gone on their separate ways? I suppose only time will tell!

The earlier posting “Tale of a tame Crimson Sunbird” by Tian Soo of GreenCircle Eco-Farm received a comment from Tang who related that he also found these birds very approachable. Tang kindly attached a video he made of a male bird visiting flowers for nectar. I have got his permission to relocate his video on the blog proper so that more can enjoy his excellent videography. Click on the the link below and enjoy!

Click here to view video

It is reported that both the male and female Pink-necked Pigeons contribute to the building of the nest. The former sources for nesting materials while the latter sits in the nest site and construct the nest.

As with all pigeons and doves, the nest is a crude platform of twigs lodged firmly between the lower branches of a tree. I suppose nest materials will depend on what are available nearby. Around my area twigs from mempat trees (Cratoxylum formosum) are commonly used.

My Dracaena reflexa Song of India tree had seen two nestings, in February 2000 and again in February 2005. Around my area these birds also nest in wild water plum (Wrightia religiosa) bush and cockscomb (Erythrina crista-galli) tree. I am sure they nest in other plants as well.

If you walk past a tree and suddenly experience a noisy flight of a bird out of the crown, it is possible that you may have disturbed a nesting pigeon. Look closely, and if you spot a nest, please do not disturb it. Just make regular but discreet observations.

These birds usually lay two white eggs. In the first nesting both eggs hatched and the two nestlings eventually fledged. With the second nesting only one bird survived as one of the two eggs was displaced when the parent bird flew off in fright when I walked by the tree earlier on.

Examining the nest after it had been abandoned, I found the periphery covered with dried faeces. Apparently the birds must have aimed outwards when they did their business while still on the nest.