Most mornings during the months of February and March 2006, I found seeds scattered along my driveway. They appeared in ones and twos, sometimes more. The ones I recognised were MacArthur (Ptychosperma macarthurii) (1, left) and Alexandra (Archontophoenix alexandrae) (2, left) palms seeds.

The seeds were always devoid of the outer fleshy covering. Because of their condition, they could not have come from the rear end of any birds. They must have been regurgitated. But by what species of bird?

I have evidence that the Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis) swallows Alexandra palm fruits whole, and regurgitates the seeds soon after. Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier) pecks on these fruits but swallows whole fruits of MacArthur palm. But I have yet to witness any regurgitating of the seeds by the bulbul.

The bird or birds responsible for scattering these seeds on my driveway could be either of these two birds. They would be perching on the frond backs of the two tall Ceram palms (Rhopaloblaste ceramica) by the driveway. The starlings regularly visit the palm to shelter from the heat of the day among the old inflorescence branches and old spathes that cluster around the base of the crown that have yet to be dislodged. They also come to feast on the ripe fruits. The bulbuls are fewer.

In March my Alexandra palms were fruiting. The starlings were feasting on the ripe fruits and they were also resting in the Ceram palms. During this period I found more of these palm seeds as well as those of MacArthur palm.

I have also found many other types of seeds that were probably regurgitated by birds. I have yet to ID them as I need to germinate then and have the seedlings identified. When I know their ID I will make a posting on this blog. In the meantime we just have to wait and see…

Input and images by YC.

Most Asian hornbills are omnivorous, taking both plant and animal foods. However, there is a preference for fruits and small animals. And figs are the favourite, although there are reports of them feeding on rambutans (Nephelium lappaceum) as well as a great array of forest fruits.

Animals are taken by hornbills, especially during the breeding season. These include scorpions, lizards, geckos, skinks, earthworms, frogs, caterpillars, beetles, butterflies, cicadas, grasshoppers…

Great Hornbills (Buceros bicronis) feed primarily on fruits, especially figs. But they also hunt actively for small animals like snakes, lizards, bird nestlings and eggs, beetles and insects.

Figs are consumed at a rate of about 200 per sitting. The figs are delicately picked with the tips of their mandibles. But not larger figs like those of Roxburg’s fig (Ficus auriculata) (above). These are not swallowed whole but rather eaten piece by piece. Tan Teo Seng, who has a fruit farm in Kota Tinggi, Johor, reports that flocks of Oriental Pied Hornbills (Anthracoceros albirostris) invade these trees whenever they are covered with figs.

When hornbills swallow fruits with large seeds, these seeds are regurgitated up to an hour later undamaged. Sometimes seeds are also passed through the digestive tract, which is the case with figs as the seeds are extremely small. As such, hornbills are good seed dispersers of forest plants.

Thanks to Tan Teo Seng for his input. Image of Oriental Pied Hornbill by HK Tang and of Roxburg’s fig by YC.

An earlier posting gave an account of the House Crows (Corvus splendens) raiding the nest of the Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus caeruleus) and ending with the crows flying off with anything edible found in the kite’s nest. This account is about the revenge of the kite. The accompanying dramatic images have been captured by photographers Meng and Melinda Chan in Lim Chu Kang some months ago. They have agreed to this post so that more can share their experience.

House Crows are bold scavengers, never letting an opportunity of a free meal go. They would steal any food from anywhere if they can get away with it. This is a story of a crow trying to steal from a juvenile Black-shouldered Kite that was feasting on a rat.There were three juvenile Black-shouldered Kites perching on a tree, one of which had a rat firmly clutched in its left foot. A House Crow spotted an opportunity of a free meal and flew down to perch some distance from the kite. Interrupted from its meal, the kite looked up and suspiciously eyed the crow. The crow moved closer to a nearer branch, eying intensely the rat tightly clutched within the talons of the kite. The crow must have violated the comfort zone of the kite. The kite suddenly lunged at the crow, taking the latter by surprise. The crow retreated and flew off, leaving the kite to continue eating its meal. The last image shows the kite eating the rat with its right wing outstretched, shielding its food from his two sibling as well as the crow, which was still around. Text and images courtesy of Meng and Melinda Chan.

The male Crimson Sunbirds (Aethopyga siparaja) are fascinating to watch as they flit from branch to branch or leaf to leaf in my noni or mengkudu (Morinda cirtifolia) tree. They announce their presence by their high-pitch ‘cheet-cheet-cheet’ and grab your attention by their bright crimson head and metallic blue forehead.

Some days they visit the tree mornings and evenings. Other days they also come during the afternoons. Mostly, they come to drink the nectar from the many white flowers.

However, during a slight drizzle or just after the rain, these birds visit for another purpose. The leaves are then covered with droplets of water and the birds come and dance around, rubbing their bodies against them in play. The large leaves apparently see to it that the birds do not get drenched as they provide some protection from the rain.

Just as suddenly as they appear, these birds suddenly disappear, with their feathers covered with droplets of water.

These Crimson Sunbirds regularly eat the fruits of the mistletoe Dendrophthoe pentandra that grow on the branches of the nearby mempat trees. These birds must have left some seeds in the noni tree when foraging for nectar. An old detached leaf was found on the ground with a mistletoe seedling growing from the stalk. Obviously this was a wrong location for leaves do not remain long on the tree.

Our young naturalist Serin Subaraj wrote about sunbirds bathing on leaves covered with water droplets after each watering in the garden. Well, these Crimson Sunbirds similarly are attracted to the noni tree whenever my volunteer gardener Eileen, waters the foliage instead of the ground below.

The pair of Collared Kingfishers (Todiramphus chloris) nesting in a cavity found at the central point of a rotting tree trunk in a small piece of secondary growth at Eng Neo had no problems of accessibility to their nest most of March 2006. By early April a pair of Dollarbirds (Eurystomus orientalis) took over the nest at the top cavity from the pair of Long-tailed Parakeets (Psittacula longicauda). The nesting parakeets gave the kingfishers no problem. Not so the Dollarbirds.

The pair of Dollarbirds regularly patrolled the area around the tree trunk or simply perched at the top, defending their territory jealously. Whenever a kingfisher approached its nest at the central cavity, one or the other of the Dollarbirds would fly out to meet it halfway. There would always be a confrontation and the kingfisher would veer off, not able to enter the nest. Only when the Dollarbirds were absent could the kingfishers fly into their nest to feed their young.

Allan Teo, an avid photographer, captured the dramatic moments when both birds confronted each other. His two crucial images show first, the Dollarbird flying off its perch when the kingfisher flew towards its nest. At about 2.5 metres away, the former lunged an attack.

In his very own words: “The Dollarbird defended its ground aggressively. Not to be put off, the Collared Kingfisher also stood it ground. No contact was made between the birds as the ‘fighting’ took place. The kingfisher veered off the perimeter defence of the Dollarbird and both went apart peacefully after that. Note that the Dollarbird can ‘freeze’ in midair whilst the kingfisher cannot.

”The action took place in split seconds and the camera could capture the action. Photography provides another valuable insight into intelligent animal behaviour.”

I totally agree. Photography has an important role to play in the study of bird behaviour. That is why more and more birders are taking photography, including digiscoping and videoscoping.

Input by Allan Teo, images by YC (top two) and Allan (bottom two of Dollarbird attacking kingfisher).

Our bird specialist, R. Subaraj, has this to say: “This is intra-species bird behaviour at its best! The agression shown by nesting birds is quite interesting to observe. Yet, the general lack of nesting holes, especially for species not able to excavate cavities for themselves in living wood, can make for lots of fighting for nesting space. Likewise, woodpeckers and barbets, who are able to excavate their own nesting holes, are often displaced from them by other hole-nesters.

“The situation is further complicated by the active removal of dead branches and trunks, for fear that they would fall down and cause damage to property. The loss of rural areas in recent times, particularly coconut groves, has also removed many potential nesting sites for such birds. The “topless” coconut trunks are favourite nesting sites for Dollarbirds, parakeets and other hole-nesting species.”