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Grey-rumped Treeswift feeding chick just before it fledged

on 25th August 2015

A pair of nesting Grey-rumped Treeswifts (Hemiprocne longipennis) at Bishan Park ended successfully with a chick fledging in late August 2015. Johnny Wee managed to photograph an adult female feeding the chick just before it fledged. The above image shows the adult and the chick perching side by side on a branch with the latter facing upward, ready to be fed.

The images above and below show the adult in the process of regurgitating food from its crop.

According to Chantler (2000), nestlings are fed ‘food-balls’ made up of insects bound together by saliva. With newly hatched nestling, the food-ball is broken into smaller pieces before feeding. When the nestling is old enough, as in this case where the chick is about to fledge, the food-ball is regurgitated directly into its gape by the adult (below).

Once fed, the adult withdraws its bill from the gape as shown in the two images below.

Johnny Wee
Singapore
August 2015

Reference:
Chantler, P. (2000). Swifts. A guide to the swifts and treeswifts of the world. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. 272 pp. (2nd ed.)

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.

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