Alerted by Jeremy Lee about the CITES listing of the Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus), Ilsa Sharp wrote:

“Thanks Jeremy - that’s an interesting point, about the CITES listing, and I will follow it up for more information. This is an example of how not all invasive or pest birds are necessarily alien species - it is possible for nature to get so out of synch that even indigenous birds become pests, or develop population imbalances etc. It is at this point that human beings have to decide, reluctantly, whether or not to ‘manage’ or even ‘cull’ such pest native species.

“The Rainbow Lorikeet is native in northern/eastern Australia (also in Indonesia and New Guinea) but alien in western Australia. However, in both locations, regardless of its native status, it is capable of being a serious pest to fruit orchards and other agribusiness ventures. So whether or not it is on CITES, I guess it could also become a pest, in purely local contexts anyway. Just goes to show how complex the whole alien species thing is. The problem for Singapore’s Botanic Gardens, if they are still there, could well be destruction of fruit and flower displays etc, and also these parrots will almost certainly be aggressive to native birds. Perhaps the CITES listing refers more to the lorikeet’s status in its native Indonesia/New Guinea? As said, I will check.”

And check, Ilsa did. She wrote to Marion Massam, a pest specialist in the Western Australia Department of Agriculture, about pest birds and suchlike, and told her how she had seen (eastern Australian) Rainbow Lorikeets in the Singapore Botanic Gardens etc.

Marion’s advice is that these birds are difficult to eradicate and recommends shooting them as soon as possible. But the problem, according to Ilsa, is they are pretty, “…so any such shooting probably best done out of sight of the public - but is this possible in so public a place as the Gardens, and in so densely populated a place as Singapore?”

Ilsa further wrote: “Yes, Marion, as an occasional birdwatcher over ‘the other side’ for many years (I lived and worked in Singapore from 1968-1998), I have long been an observer of the autumn (northern hemisphere autumn) migratory routes from Siberia down through SE Asia to Australia, and out to New Zealand - the north-coast Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve has always been a good observation post for this phenomenon in Singapore.

“But the ‘hitchhiker’ traffic is two-way - at least a pair of Rainbow Lorikeets are established now at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, and I have seen another small flock elsewhere in Singapore too, just for example, not to mention Sulphur-crested Cockatoos on the southern-coast offshore island of Sentosa in Singapore!”

Marion’s reply: “Thanks Ilsa - we actually get hitchhiker birds directly from Asia on a very regular basis, so raising awareness of this in that part of the world can only be a good thing.”

The two earlier postings on this bird are at 1 and 2.

Thanks are due to Ilsa Sharp, Jeremy Lee and Marion Massam for their contributions. Image of Rainbow Lorikeets at the Eng Neo area by YC.

Most birders would have given up on the Eng Neo area by May 2006 as the pair of Great (Buceros bicronis) and Rhinoceros Hornbills (B. rhinoceros) has been visiting rather infrequently. But Meng and Melinda Chan were persistent. They returned to the area again on 20th May and were rewarded with an exciting encounter.

The location was not the rotting tree trunk. Part of this trunk had collapsed earlier, possibly trapping the nest of the Dollarbirds (Eurystomus orientalis) as that portion of the trunk was firmly buried in the ground. The Dollarbirds apparently moved to another cavity found in the nearby living albizia tree (Paraserianthes falcataria).

This cavity was a few months ago occupied by a pair of Hill Mynas (Gracula religiosa). Subsequently Tanimbar Corellas (Cacatua goffini) were seen around the cavity. Now the Dollarbirds had taken over the cavity and nested there.

On that morning when Meng and Melinda were there, three Oriental Pied Hornbills (Anthracoceros albirostris) visited the tree. These hornbills were seldom seen around the albizia trees, preferring the many wayside trees that dot the sprawling apartment blocks nearby. The Dollarbirds were around and put up a spirited defense, bravely attacking and chasing off the larger birds.
As an added bonus, they witnessed the return of the Great and Rhinoceros Hornbills to the neighbouring tree. Both birds followed the same old routine, checking on the cavity. But there was no feeding of the Rhinoceros by the Great.

Input and images by Meng and Melinda Chan.

This is the first nesting report of the Oriental White-eye (Zosterops palpebrosus) after 1970 for Singapore. Yen Lau and K.C. Tsang first spotted a pair of the birds checking Yen’s 3 m high potted Australian bottlebrush (Callistemon rigidis) trees in her garden on 18th May 2006. Three days later they noticed a neatly weaved, cup-shaped nest that was 5 cm across. The nest, about 2 m from the ground, was constructed mostly of plant materials using cobwebs to attach it firmly to the branches.
Five days later the parent birds were in the nest most of the time. On 7th June three reddish chicks were seen crowding the nest. The adults took turns bringing food for the ever-hungry chicks every 15 minutes or so. The moment the chicks felt an adult landing on a nearby branch, they would eagerly raise their heads high with gaping beaks and made barely audible sounds. They were ever ready to receive whatever food brought to them. Between feedings, one or the other of the adult bird would sit in the nest to comfort the chicks. By 11th June the chicks had a sparse cover of black and yellow feathers. Of the three, one was larger and more boisterous than the rest. The nest was over-crowded and the youngest chick apparently fell off the nest three days later and died. Even with the remaining two chicks the nest was too small, but by then the older fledged. The adults were nearby encouraging it. By the same afternoon the second chick also fledged. Although neither Yen nor KC noticed the adults removing any faecal sacs, they must have as the nest was always tidy and the surrounding was free of excrements. Our consultant ornithologist, Wang Luan Keng, confirmed that this is the first report for modern Singapore (i.e. after 1970). There have been old records of nestings in Sime Road (1950), Pulau Tekong (very young birds,1920s) and Malaysia. Luan Keng thinks that there might be newer records too but she is not aware of. This bird disappeared from Singapore during the 1970s and there were only records of escapees. Since Gibson-Hill’s 1950 record from Sime Road, there have been no confirmed records for Singapore until now.

Luan Keng added: “It’s a good record. Looks like we need to re-evaluate the status of this species. Currently it is recorded as “extinct, former resident, common escapee”.

Lim Junying wrote on 30th June, after KC’s report was circulated: “Indeed, they are very versatile when it comes to nesting spots. I once had a nest in a Chinese Juniper tree. Chicks didn’t really show much activity whenever I came over to observe them, just a little movement.” It is a pity that Junying did not record his observations then.

This shows the importance of publishing your findings, however trivial you may think. After all, we are usually not aware of what is new and important until we let the ornithologists and experienced birders know about it. So keep your observations and findings coming and we at BESGroup will do your reporting and recording for you - within days if not a week or so, not months or years!

We thank Yen Lau and KC Tsang for the above report and images; Wang Luan Keng for technical information; and Lim Junying for additional information.

One evening I found a package in my mailbox, left there by Meng and Melinda Chan. The pair was returning home from photographing a pair of nesting Red-crowned Barbet (Megalaima rafflesii) and left me the messy collection of partially digested fruits. Apparently Melinda collected them from the road nearby after the parent birds cleaned out their nest and dumped the trash some distance away.

The collection of fruits was fascinating. A few of the fruits had their bluish outer skin intact. Others were without the skin, the pulp greenish. There were a few other fruits/seeds as well, all covered with a dark, sticky and messy substance, probably originating from the rear end of the nestlings.

The bluish fruits still had a distinctive aromatic smell, reminiscence of some fruits or other that I cannot recollect. My first thought was Elaeocarpus or oil-fruit trees. These small to fairly large trees are common in our secondary forests. Their fruits ripen blue-green or blue-grey. The greenish pulp also pointed to this plant.

I checked with Ali Ibrahim who gave me some leads. Lauraceae or Elaeocarpaceae he suggested. The first includes wild cinnamon (Cinnamomum iners) while the second the oil-fruit trees, Elaeocarpus spp. The aromatic smell of the fruits suggested that it could not be the first. Cleaning the fruits and cutting it into two showed a very hard stone enclosing two seeds, each with its own cavity. Bingo! Elaeocarpus it is.

So these barbets eat Elaeocarpus fruits. They were brought to the nest and fed to the nestlings in twos and threes. Apparently the nestlings could not handle these fruits and most were probably regurgitated and deposited in the nest cavity. The parent birds had a hard time cleaning out the nest, literally carrying out these partially digested fruits in their beaks and dumping them onto the road nearby.

It has been reported that the nestlings of barbets dispose of their wastes through faecal sacs. Apparently these fruits/seeds were too large to be contained in such sacs, making it necessary for the parent birds to “shovel” them with their beaks.

Thank you Meng and Melinda Chan for collecting the fruits and for the image of the Barbet, and to Ali Ibrahim for help in the ID. Image of fruits by YC.

Wu Weizen was walking in the MacRitchie Reservoir forest one afternoon in May 2006 when he suddenly came across a Chestnut-bellied Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus sumatranus) sprawled in the middle of the path. It had its wings stretched and tail feathers well fanned, showing off the brilliance of the feather colours.

“As I approached, it folded its wings somewhat, moved a little to the side (as in the photo), then unfolded its wings again. I watched for a while, and wondered if it was injured. But it flew into the nearby trees as I passed.” The bird was apparently sunning itself in the middle of the forest path. As Weizen added, “It didn’t rain that morning, so what did it do to get itself so wet that it needed to dry off? Took a dip in the reservoir?”

The way the bird was stretching itself reminded Jeremy Lee of anting: “Did you see any ants around the spot? It could be anting. Or maybe just using some of the sun’s heat to get rid of the ticks or mites it has.”

The bird could be sunning itself. Or it could be anting, as suggested by Jeremy. After all, this is a typical posture if it is lying on an ants’ nest to allow the ants to swarm all over it in an effort to rid its feathers of ectoparasites. Obviously if I am to suddenly come across a stunning bird like the makolha stretched out in the middle of the forest path, I would not have thought of anting. Nor would I have examined the site after the bird flew off to look for signs of ants.

If it were really anting, the above image would be a rare shot.

This report by Weizen should make birders aware of the possibility of such an activity. And the next time should anyone come across a bird in this posture, he or she should spend some time quietly observing it. If it is anting, it may subsequently do a little dance and maybe peck off the ants from its feathers. And do not forget to examine the site for the presencer of ants.

Our bird specialist R. Subaraj has this to say: “Sunning or anting….both perfectly feasible. More interesting is that this normally arboreal species does descend to the ground from time to time.”

Thank you Wu Weizen for this unusual observation and the rare image.