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Oriental Pied Hornbill and Pink-necked Green-pigeon feeding on figs

on 16th September 2018

The Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina) tree in the Singapore Botanical Gardens is figging again. As always, you can hear the tree well before you see it. After all, the figs attract plenty of birds that arrive to feed on them.

MeiLin Khoo’s two video clips (above, below) show a juvenile Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) casually picking on a fig. The fig is then swallowed whole and passed on to the gizzard and then the stomach.

A third video clip (below) shows a male Pink-necked Green-pigeons (Treron vernans) having difficulty swallowing the fig whole. He tries hard to take a big bite from the fig, losing a large portion that finds its way to the ground below.

MeiLin Khoo
Singapore
17th August 2018

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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