Nesting of Dollarbirds
Posted by admin on 21 November 06, Tuesday
Contributed by Dr Jonathan Cheah Weng Kwong
Dollarbirds (Eurystomus orientalis) are hole nesters. They do not excavate their own nests but make use of old nests made by woodpeckers and barbets. The nests can be in a dead tree or tree trunk or in living trees but the nest seen by Jonathan Cheah in late April and early May 2006 was the rotting top of a palm stem, probably a nibong (Oncosperma sp.).
The nest is usually unlined and the bird lays a clutch of two white eggs, although in this case only one chick developed. Both parent birds helped in the feeding of the chick. What they brought were mainly insects, high protein food.
As rollers generally eject pellets of the undigested insects that they ate earlier, it would be interesting for future observers to note whether the chicks also cast pellets.
Our bird specialist R. Subaraj has added that Dollarbirds commonly nest at the top of rotting coconut trunks.
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Categories: Nesting
Comment by Anonymous
Made Wednesday, 22 of November , 2006 at 11:16 pm
Love reading your blog…how did these birds get the name “Dollarbirds”?
Comment by YC
Made Thursday, 23 of November , 2006 at 10:23 pm
The Dollarbird is so named because of the silver-dollar sized spots on its wings.
Pingback by Bird Ecology Study Group » Strange behaviour of Asian Glossy Starling
Made Tuesday, 15 of May , 2007 at 9:50 pm
[...] hollow tops of these posts are favourite nesting sites of Dollarbirds (Eurystomus orientalis). The starling was taking out fruits rather than bringing them into the [...]
