Joyce Kok and her husband had a pair of Pink-necked Green Pigeons (Treron griseicauda) nesting in their garden recently. The birds built a simple platform of twigs at the top of their potted Dracaena fragrans plant along their balcony (below left). As the nesting was so accessible, they kept watch on the progress, documenting the stages from eggs to chicks. It was through the efforts of Patricia Thong that we received the details of their observations and the images that are posted here.

The birds laid two white eggs (top right). One egg hatched, but they failed to notice it as the chick was brooded close to the parent and under one of the wings. And the nest was never empty as there was always one parent in it. The male sitting in the nest (below left) is actually brooding a chick that she failed to notice. The other image where the the male is with an old chick, shows the other egg that remained unhatched.

What Joyce did notice was that both parents helped in egg incubation and chick brooding. She especially noticed that the male incubated the eggs and brooded the chick the entire day (below left) while the female took over the night shift (below right).

In the image on the left, notice the distinct upper eyelid of the male bird. The eye of the chick is covered by a translucent membrane, the nictitating membrane, also called the third eyelid. This membrane moves sideways across the eye and helps to clean the surface of the eye as well as keep it moist.

Pink-necked Green Pigeons are now becoming common around our urban areas and it is not unusual to see pairs nesting in trees, bushes and potted plants found in small gardens.

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On 12th April 2007, Jeremy Lee wrote: “There is a pair of Spotted Doves (Streptopelia chinensis) just outside my window. They are nesting on a palm tree.

“The only problem is that I have never seen the pair together at all except during the nest building phase when one was bringing back some nesting materials for the other.

“Ever since then, it was always just one bird. Even at night. I searched the neighbouring trees for the other bird but to no avail. I remember as a kid we had a pair nesting on our mango tree (Mangifera indica) also outside my window. I clearly remember seeing two parents around.

“Initially I had suspected the worst… that one of the birds had been trapped by poachers. There is a former construction site next to my condo. The birds feed there and there are always people there trapping these birds.

“A couple of days ago I saw two eggs and now there’s even chicks in the nest. My maid swears that there are two different birds sitting on the eggs. I can hardly tell the difference between the male and female as the difference in the brown coloration on the chest is not distinctly different.

“I will be continuing to take pictures of the birds. Can’s miss an opportunity like this one and at the same time invlove the kids in this little episode.”

Then on 20th September 2007, Jeremy again wrote: “This is the second time a pair pair of Spotted Doves has tried to raise a clutch here. The first time round, two chicks successfully fledged from the nest about two months ago.

“This time round I cannot confirm if it is the same pair, but they built a new nest about 45 degrees counter clockwise from the previous position.

“Yesterday morning, I noticed three House Crows (Corvus splendens) attacking the nest. I rushed to my toilet and fired three cups of water at the nest to drive off one of the crows that was already perched right beside the nest and harassing the bird that was sitting on the eggs. I spent the next 10 minutes making my presence felt and opened all my windows and stared at the crows until every one of them left.

“The birds are still sitting on the eggs. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that the crows do not come back… or they might come back when there are chicks… which are probably harder to conceal than eggs.”

The final report came on 6th October: “The pair of Spotted Dove chicks are almost ready to leave the nest. This will make it the second successful batch on this relatively new palm tree in the condo. It seems that the doves are giving this particular species of palm tree their vote of confidence and many of the other palm trees are also being taken up by other pairs of doves.

“Not sure about the name of this palm tree but it is definitely not local. Looks a lot like the date palms of the middle east. Grows tall and fast. with some very wicked looking spines at the base of each frond. The spines give a lot of support to the rather flimsy nests of the doves.

“Back to the earlier account about some marauding crows attacking the nest some weeks back. The crows never made a second visit. Every time I wake up in the morning, I would check the nest. Sometimes when I come back from overseas trips, I half expect the nest to be empty.

“But today, the two young birds are already walking about a foot away from the nest on the fronds awaiting their first flight.

“Either I gave a strong message to the crows on the day they tried to get at the eggs… or they may be smarter and feel that they are better off combing another area with a better hit rate, then go all the way back to some area they had previously searched. What they can take would already have been taken the first time round. Probably better to visit again in a few weeks where new birds have laid eggs.”

The plant is an ornamental date palm (Phoenix sp.).

It has to happen and it did happen - a photographer documenting a new species for Singapore. This elusive bird appeared for just about 15 minutes, after which it has yet to be sighted again. With hard evidence in the form of images, there can be little doubt that the pigeon has to be what it is claimed to be.

In the past there were always doubts in the minds of so-called “experts” when such claims were made by newbies. And new sightings were only recorded long after, when actually seen by these “expert” birders. A new trend is emerging where photographers would be at the forefront of new sightings.

Dr Jonathan Cheah Weng Kwong was at the Japanese Garden in Jurong on 22nd December 2007 when he spotted a lone bird at the salam tree (Syzygium polyantha). It was quietly eating the fruits for about 15 minutes before it flew off. He posted his best image in Avian Watch Asia (above) and there it would have remained forgotten except that it attracted the attention of birder Albert Low.

On 23rd December Albert wrote: “…What I see, and incidentally what Ding Li sees, in the picture, is a possible Orange-breasted Green-pigeon (Treron bicincta). This species, ironically, was a lifer for both of us when we visited Udawalawe National Park in Sri Lanka just last week. The significant ID feature missing from the picture is the vent colour. For the uninitiated, this species has been recorded as far south as Port Dickson in Penisular Malaysia and a part of me has suspected that just like Jambu Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus jambu), could occur in Singapore, particularly during big figging seasons.

“…I would strongly urge all birders and photographers visiting this area particularly over the Christmas Break to scan the tree diligently for Treron pigeons and attempt to take more shots should there be one or more similar birds around. If it is indeed a OBGP, it would mark a significant range extension for the species, obviously pending debate on its origin.”

As an update, Albert wrote on 24th December: “Just an update for the seekers. Jonathan has kindly sent another picture of the bird in question (above). In addition, he has mentioned that the pictures were taken last Saturday and at the entrance to Japanese Garden, thus it is not from overseas and isn’t that dated either.”

This is the first sighting of the Orange-breasted Green Pigeon in Singapore, a male bird. The bird looks like the Pink-necked Green Pigeon (Treron vernans) except that the forehead, face and throat are greenish yellow. Also, the mauve-pink upper breast area is smaller and does not extend to the neck. The outer feathers of the tail is blackish, with a broad pale grey subterminal band.

According to Wells (1999), it is found as far south of the Malay Peninsular as Port Dickson. The bird is fairly common in eastern Java and northern Bali.

Input by Dr Jonathan Cheah Weng Kwong and Albert Low; images by Johathan.

References:
1. Baptista, L. F., Trail, P. W. & Horblit, H. M. (1997). Family Columbidae (pigeons and doves). Pp. 60-245 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. eds. Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 4. Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Barcelona: Lynx Editions.
2. Gibbs, D., Barnes, E. & Cox, J. (2001). Pigeons and doves: A guide to the pigeons and doves of the world. Sussex: Pica Press.
3. Wells, D.R. (1999). The birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsular. Vol. I, Non-passerines. Academic Press, London.

Jambu Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus jambu) is an uncommon non-breeding visitor. Apparently it visits any time of the year. Thus when a pair was sighted on 19th December 2007, news spread wide and fast. Photographers and birders flocked to the Japanese Garden in Jurong, the former to record the event and the latter to gawk at the birds.

The strikingly handsome male with a crimson face and a pink patch on the upper breast is shown above. The less striking but just as attractive female, shown below, is about to swallow the salam (Syzygium polyanthum) fruit. In the crop the flesh is stripped off and the seed sent on its way to be ejected at the other end of the bird.

This year’s arrival of the doves coincided with the fruiting of the salam tree, a common roadside tree whose fruits are a favourite with birds. A single male bird was sighted last year in another such fruiting tree nearby. The fruits of the salam obviously provide much needed sustenance to these birds after their long flight.

Normally found in forests, this fruit eating dove congregate in the crowns of small trees making up the lower to middle storey. Their appearance in a park thus allowed photographers excellent opportunities to get their perfect shots.

Input by YC, Meng and Melinda Chan; images by Meng.

For the last six months, Johnny Wee had been noticing a pair of Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis) at around noon, especially when the weather was hot. They would arrive to perch along the metal bar that formed part of the boundary fence of his house (left). There, the birds rested, shaded from the hot sun. They stayed for about half an hour each time, silently doing their own comfort activities – not a sound was heard while they were there. There were no flapping of wings, no bobbing of heads and no sign of copulation.

All the birds did was preen. Sitting slightly apart and with feathers fluffed, each bird would indulge in self-preening. Every now and then they would sit close and allopreen. One bird (male? female?) would stretch out and preen the head of its partner, then stretch further across the neck to reach the other side of the head and neck. It is noted that the preening bird often had its eyes closed or partially closed. The bird that was preened had its eyes fully open (below). [Should it not be the other way round?]

Is this part of the courtship ritual of the Spotted Dove? Or is it a normal bonding activity between a pair of doves? Normally, the onset of breeding would see the birds prospecting for suitable nesting sites before actual nest building takes place. And courtship displays may involved one or more of the following: strutting with accompanying wings-tail movements, feeding and aerial displays. The sad fact is that we are mostly ignorant of what actually happened during this period – I may be wrong here and by all means please prove me wrong. And this bird is relatively common and easy to observe in urban areas. On top of it the bird is easy to recognise from the trademark patch of black and white chequer on the sides of the neck.

Input and images by Johnny Wee.