25 Sep 2021

Verditer Flycatcher – fruit feeding

by | posted in: birds, Feeding-plants | 0

Not sure how many Verditer Flycatchers (Eumyias thalassinus thalassoides) were present (post shows a male). The Verditer Flycatchers would take fruit by fly-by snatches as well as exploring the thick sections of the tree and picking off fruits while perched. Wells 2007 does not note local frugivory but I have previously seen it feeding on the Common Mahang (Macaranga bancana) [http://www.besgroup.org/2015/08/02/immature-verditer-flycatcher-feeding-on-common-mahang-fruits/]. Handbook of the Birds of the World 2019 states that “food not well known; …… also ripe berries of Macaranga and Mallotus”. A Google image search showed an additional fruit feeding episode from Thailand.

Bird observed feeding on the fruits:

Little Cuckoo-dove (Macropygia ruficeps malayana)

Black-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus atriceps)

Red-eyed Bulbul (Pycnonotus brunneus brunneus)

Spectacled Bulbul (Pycnonotus erythropthalmos)

Scaly-Breasted Bulbul (Pycnonotus squamatus webberi)

Cream-vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus simplex)

Buff-vented Bulbul (Iole charlottae crypta)

Verditer Flycatcher (Eumyias thalassinus)

Blue-winged Leafbird (Chloropsis cochinchinensis)

Lesser Green Leafbird (Chloropsis cyanopogon)

Everett’s White-eye (Zosterops everetti tahanensis)

Fire-breasted Flowerpecker (Dicaeum ignipectus dolichorhynchum)

 

Bird present but unsure if feeding on fruits:

Blue-eared Barbet (Megalaima australis) & other barbets

Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike (Hemipus picatus intermedius)

Asian Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica)

Temminck’s Sunbird (Aethopyga temminckii)

Little Spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra cinereicollis)

Grey-breasted Spiderhunter (Arachnothera modesta modesta)

 

Amar-Singh HSS (Dato’ Dr)

Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

18th February 2019

 

Location: Taiping, Perak, Malaysia

Habitat: 500-600 meter ASL, primary jungle

Equipment: Nikon D500 SLR with Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD, handheld with Rode VideoMic Pro Plus Shotgun Microphone

 

 

Follow 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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