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Pink-necked Green-pigeon – ground feeding

on 6th June 2017

“Pink-necked Green Pigeons (Treron vernans griseicapilla)
have become increasingly common in the city due to the city council penchant for planting palms and the fair number of ficus trees available. Pink-necked Green Pigeons, like most green pigeons, feed in the canopy for figs/fruit and have rarely been documented descending to ground, except perhaps to drink (see Wells 1999) (below).

PNGP-ground feed [AmarSingh] 1

“I saw 4 birds feeding on, what appears to be, a discarded mango fruit in a public field. I suspect a sweet mango on the ground was too much to resist. I saw some degree of aggression among them but, by the time I was able to get close, using the car as a hide, two birds (a male and female) had flown away (below).

PNGP-ground feed [AmarSingh] 2

“The remaining adult male was very possessive of the fruit and only occasionally gave the adult female opportunities to feed. These opportunities happened, I suspect, due to my watching presence which distracted the male.

“The video recording better illustrates this ‘defence’ of the food source (see video below).

“Wells (1999) states ‘once at a source of fruit males in particular become aggressive …. in temporary defence of foraging patches within the canopy’.

PNGP-ground feed [AmarSingh] 3

“Once the male left the female could eat in peace (above).“

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
21th May 2017

Location: Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Habitat: City, urban environment

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

2 Responses

  1. Dear Amar,
    Habits are different in your neighbouring country South of the Causeway. Here, I frequently see Pink Necked Green Pigeons foraging on fallen fruit.
    I have a Ficus benjamica in my garden, and my neighbour has both rambutan and chiku trees whose branches hang over my side of the fence. When these trees fruit, quite a lot of the fruits fall to the ground. Pink Necked Green Pigeons join the Javan Mynahs which are the usual scavengers of this largesse.

  2. Dear Chiu San,
    thank you for the kind response & observation. The comment I made on not ‘ground feeding’ was quoting Wells 1999 which applies not just to Pen Malaysia but also Singapore and south Thailand. So your observations become even more important as they are uncommon. It would be good to document them in images/video and post on BESG for reference.
    blessing, Amar

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