About a year ago or earlier, Goh Si Guim came across a durian tree (Durio zibethinus) at Bukit Batok West with a ripenig fruit whose outer skin had a hole, probably gnawed by a squirrel. There was a Laced Woodpecker (Picus vittatus) around the fruit. Whether it was actually eating the durian flesh or looking for insects was not established. Fuhai Heng managed to capture an image of the damaged fruit with the woodpecker on it (below). There the matter rested until James Heng took a walk along Venus Drive on 10th July 2006 and encountered a tree laden with fruits with many squirrels and birds crowding around the ripening fruits. This is what he wrote:

“This evening I passed a durian tree which was laden with fruits. What was unusual was that there were lots of sunbird and flowerpecker activities.

“As the durians are getting ripe soon, many plantain squirrels (Callosciurus notatus) (with a black and cream coloured band on the side of its belly) have gnawed through many of them. Whenever a squirrel had had enough and moved away, Plain-throated Sunbirds ( Anthreptes malacensis ) quickly appeared and perched on the durian’s thorns and pecked away at the exposed flesh. They were also seen licking the white inner portion of the husk.

“Several Orange Bellied Flowerpeckers (Dicaeum trigonostigma) were also busy darting about that tree. On several occasions, they landed on the durians and pecked away. Unfortunately, from my angle, I could not see if they were reaching into any of those bored cavities in the fruits.

“Hmm, seems that like humans, some birds just cannot “tahan” the lure of this fruit.”
Johnny Wee later visited the tree and took a picture of the woodpecker that was eating away at a fruit with an opening for about 8 minutes before it flew away satisfied (above). Again, Johnny was not sure whether the bird was eating the fruit or the insects/worms found around it.

It has been established that woodpeckers are insectivorous as well as fruigivrous.

We thank Goh Si Guim and James Heng for their input; Fuhia Heng and Johnny Wee for their images; and R. Subaraj for identifying the squirrel.

“On May 1st, I was at Tekek Village at Pulau Tioman, Malaysia with my collegues, Bridget Hedderman, Chua Sek Chuan and Karen Chen. We were awaiting for our vehicle transfer. Above us, we could see and hear the large colony of Island Flying Foxes (Pteropus hypomelanus) roosting in the various trees, including casuarina (Casuarina equisetifolia) and sea almond (Terminalia catappa), along the river. These fruit bats have a wingspan of about a metre and are offshore island specialists.

“Suddenly, there was a loud commotion from the colony of bats. Karen said a White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) had flown low over our heads and landed on one of the nearby trees. I could see some movement at the top of a sea almond tree across the small river. Then, I saw the eagle fly out and away with something in its talons. Almost immediately, it dawned on me that the eagle had taken one of the bats!

“We looked around and soon observed the White-bellied Sea Eagle flapping toward the central hills with a struggling Island Flying Fox firmly locked in its talons. What a sight and what a surprise! This eagle species specialises on catching fish offshore or over bodies of inland water. Indeed, it is a regular joy to see these majestic raptors flying out to sea and fishing the waters around Tioman. Often, individuals can be seen flying back to the hills with a fish in their talons, heading for a favourite perch. Occasionally, they may be seen carrying an eel, a crab or even a snake.

“A large Island Flying Fox being taken by a White-bellied Sea Eagle is practically unheard of - at least I have not heard of anything like this! Yet, the colony of large bats provides an easy target for a gutsy and suitably sized raptor. In the sea eagle’s talons, the flying fox looked relatively small and an ideal meal. Adapting to changing situations is what survival is all about and I feel truly fortunate and humbled to have witnessed this amazing raw spectacle.” R. Subaraj

Note: White-bellied Fish-eagle is now known as White-bellied Sea Eagle. We thank Subaraj for the exciting and unusual account and K. C. Tsang for the use of his image.