My MacArthur Palm (Ptychosperma macarthurii) has been fruiting for some time now. This evening the Asian Glossy Starlings were feasting on the ripe fruits. Then suddenly the Pink-necked Green-pigeons flew in one by one. Outnumbered and outsized by the green-pigeons, the starlings flew off, each with a ripe fruit between its mandibles.
It was the green-pigeons’ turn to feast on the fruits. One male swallowed about 17 fruits in 42 seconds or one fruit every 2.5 seconds. A female swallowed 16 fruits in about 52 seconds or one every 3.25 seconds. It then paused for about 40 seconds before swallowing another, its 18th fruit. This was just before dusk. No doubt the green-pigeons will roost with a crop full of fruits. In the crop these fruits would be scraped of their pulp and the seeds would be regurgitated one by one.
MacArthur Palm attracts plentiful birds when it is fruiting LINK 1 and LINK 2.
Most birds swallow the fruits whole – Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis), Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier), Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis), Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopacea), Javan Myna (Acridotheres javanicus), Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) and of course Pink-necked Green-pigeon (Treron vernans).
YC Wee
Singapore
15th October 2017
