Kumchun Chan succeeded in documenting a Mugimaki Flycatcher (Ficedula mugimaki) casting pellet on video at Bidadari in December 2017. So far, we have reports of a single pellet being cast at any one sitting. In this case there were two pellet castings, at an interval of 6 seconds. Not sure whether this is an unusual occurrence.
The flycatcher must have eaten a heavy meal to cast two pellets within such a short time. Usually pellets are formed within six to ten hours of a meal in the bird’s gizzard LINK.
A PDF copy on Pellet-casting by non-raptorial birds of Singapore can be downloaded HERE.
Kumchun Chan
Singapore
6th December 2017
This post is a cooperative effort between Birds, Insects N Creatures Of Asia and BESG to bring the study of birds and their behavior through photography and videography to a wider audience.
3 Responses
2 pellets were also cast by the daurian redstart here: https://besgroup.org/2013/05/08/daurian-redstart-casting-pellets/
Sorry Wai Chong, failed to locate your post of double pellets. Thanks for the note,
No problem.
Just to add to the knowledge of pellet casting behaviour.