Grey-rumped Treeswift feeding chick – on video

YC Wee
on 1st October 2015

Johnny Wee’s earlier account showed in vivid details an adult female Grey-rumped Treeswift (Hemiprocne longipennis) feeding a large chick as they both perched side by side on a branch LINK.

What the series of still images is unable to show is how the feeding is initiated. And this is where Kumchun Chan’s video clip comes into play – see below.

Again according to Chantler (2000), “The feeding process is preceded, or initiated, by sibilant screaming (less shrill than that of the adults) and waving of the open bill.”

The second video (above) shows the chick alone by the nest making begging cries to the adult (probably nearby) for food and testing its wings to prepare for fledging.

Johnny Wee & Kumchun Chan
Singapore
October 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 the articles are solely those of the authors/contributors, and do not represent nor are they endorsed by the National University of Singapore (NUS), the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, National University of Singapore (LKCNHM, NUS) or any of NUS’s affiliates or subsidiaries. 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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