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Gloria and her Pink-necked Green Pigeon 1

on 17th September 2006


On 3rd July 2006 Gloria Seow spotted a female Pink-necked Green Pigeon (Treron vernans ) sitting in a nest lodged between the branches of a tree (possibly Aphanamixis polystachys). The tree was just behind her first floor office in the MacPherson Road area, near to where the regular office smokers congregated to discuss their battle plans. For the first few days she saw only the female bird incubating the eggs. Only much later did she see the more colourful male at the nest.

The bird would sit quietly in the nest, occasionally shifting positions. The sudden appearance of a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker (Dendrocopos moluccensis) on a branch close by was totally ignored.

As Gloria recounted: “Showed most of my colleagues the female and male birds with my binos. They were suitably impressed and intrigued that there could be green pigeons in Singapore…”

On 11th July the eggs hatched.

“I thought I saw papa regurgitating (at that time I didn’t know what he was doing). He would arch his neck downwards and contraction waves would pass along the length of the body as food pours forth within… Suddenly papa moved and revealed one chick beneath him!” So there were two chicks.

“Papa was feeding the chicks with crop milk every 5 to 15 minutes. When one chick was fed, the other would call out softly in protest. The chicks were covered in yellow down, their eyes appeared to be still closed and sealed within a thin membrane, and they had a yellow beak. I reckon that they were barely 1-2 days old. Papa looked tired, his feathers appeared ruffled and un-preened and he was forever wary of foreign sounds, whipping his head around in alarm with every new aural interference, human or avian made. Thank God such disturbances were few and far between.

“My presence was acknowledged as papa quickly orientated his body and sight line in my direction when initially he was facing the other way. Of course, I posed very little threat as I was seated a good 4 meters below him and every time somebody walked by, I diverted attention away from the nest by fiddling with my other papers and equipment.”

Input by Gloria Seow and images by Chan Yoke Meng – top down: female with chicks, tree where nest was, male in nest, male with chicks. Ali Ibrahim helped identify the tree.

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

Other posts by YC Wee

4 Responses

  1. Hi there,
    I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT DOES THIS PINK NECKED GREEN PIGEON EAT . ARE THEY GRAIN EATERS ? WHAT TYPE OF FED TO THEY CONSUME . I’VE STAYING IN H.D.B FLAT . I’VE SEEN THE HOME PIGEON & SPOTTED DOVES EATING RICE & GRAINS AT HAWKER & SHOP HOUSE EATRIES . BUT NEVER SEEN PINK NECKED GREEN PIGEON ANY WHERE NEAR HUMAN DEWELLINGS . I ONLY REMEMBER SEEING A FLOCK OF PINK NECKED GREEN PIGEON FLYING AT MANDAI JUNGLE .(sIGHTED FROM THE CAR PASSING THRU ON THE ROAD )PLS DO REPLY

    WARM REGARDS

    RAMESH

  2. A pink-necked green pigeon lay its eggs in my home’s balcony, but after being startled and flying off every time someone walked past the glass door, the couple seems to have abandoned the nest (absent for 4 days and counting), leaving two eggs behind. A little research tells me that trying to incubate them artificially will only result in the death of the hatchlings, so is there anywhere I can give the eggs to? If not, the sight of the abandoned eggs in the balcony is quite bothering, and I wouldn’t like to see them there forever.

    1. After 4 days the eggs may have turned bad. It’s just bad judgement to nest in this particular location. A learning process for the green-pigeons.

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