On 30 August 1987 a
fruiting Pipturus argentaeus Willd.
(Urticaceae), which was attracting several species of birds was watched for
approximately one hour from 09:00. The tree was c.10m tall and stood in a small
clearing beside a dry stream bed in the Veimauri logging area,c .70km
north-west of Port Moresby at c. 200m above sea level.
The birds were feeding
on small, green, spherical cone-like structures, 2 – 3mm in diameter, which are
the immature compound fruits. These compound fruits are borne at intervals, on
thin, angled (zig-zag) stems, produced in the leaf axils. The fruits were hard
and dry. The mature fruit of P.argenteus
is a white, fleshy false berry but none were seen on this tree.
Eight species were
observed feeding in the tree. Two pairs of Orange-breasted Fig-Parrots Cyclopsitta gulielmiteri were present
for the whole time. They fed actively, climbing from branch to branch
throughout the tree. Females of three birds of paradise, Magnificent Bird of
Paradise Cicinnurus magnificus, King
Bird of Paradise C.regius and
Raggiana Bird of Paradise Paradisaea
raggiana, visited the tree for short periods, each feeding in only one part
of the tree before moving on. A male Brown Cuckoo-Dove Macropygia amboinensis landed on a low branch of the tree. It took
a single fruit before attempting to climb to a smaller branch which could not
bear its weight. It fell out of the tree and flew into the surrounding forest.
A pair of Plain Honeyeaters Pycnopygius
ixoides and a pair of Tawny-breasted Honeyeaters Xanthotis flaviventer made repeated visits, feeding throughout the
crown. All these birds appeared to ingest the fruit whole. Two Grey Whistlers
Pachycephala simplex also visited the tree but did not feed on the fruit,
instead they gleaned items from the leaves. No inter-specific aggression was
noted, although at times the were eight individuals of four species in the
tree.
Voucher specimen at
UPNG for P.argenteus is Hicks & Hicks #2. I would like to thank Paul Katik
for identifying the food plant.
First published in Muruk 3(1): 15
No comments:
Post a Comment