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Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker manipulating Muntingia calabura fruit

YC Wee
on 31st October 2016

“On 9th October 2016, my niece, Veronica Foo Tze Fen and I were at Tampines Eco Green when we spotted a male Scarlet-Backed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum) hunting on a Muntingia calabura (Buah cheri) tree. It soon decided a semi-ripe fruit (instead of the few ripe ones around) and tried to dislodge it. After several attempts from various angles it succeeded only to find the fruit too big for its gape and the fruit too hard for it to squeez.

“It them manipulate the fruit with its beak till it finally manage to piece it with its upper mandible. Then it squeezes the juicy contents out.

“After finishing the fruit juicy contents, it discarded the skin, wiped its mouth, ruffled its feathers and lightened its weight and flew off, satisfied.”

Veronica Foo Tze Fen & Foo Jit Leang
Singapore
24th October 2016

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

Bird Society of Singapore: A credible alternative to the Nature Society’s Bird Group

11th December 2023

Singapore-Nature: 17. Citizen Science

30th August 2023

Singapore-Nature: 16. Living close to nature

18th August 2023

Singapore’s secret “garden”

20th July 2023

Singapore-Nature: 15. Looking versus studying birds

12th July 2023

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Any views and opinions expressed in the articles 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.

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