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Ashy-headed Green Pigeon
Central Catchment Nature Reserve
09 Oct 2021 to 11 Oct 2021


General details
Species Ashy-headed Green Pigeon Treron phayrei
Record ID 10001
Date range 09 Oct 2021 to 11 Oct 2021
Location Central Catchment Nature Reserve
Count 1 individual
Date added 16 Oct 2021

Record accepted.

Committee's view
Background
No doubts were raised by the committee regarding the bird's identification, but some discussion points were raised regarding provenance, summarised here.

Pro-escapee: 

  1. This is a lowland monsoon forest species that typicall does not exhibit vagrancy; it is not known outside of Indochina.
  2. Treron pigeons are actively traded in the aviculture and the bird could be from a private collection or a shop; many birds in Singapore are likely brought in from neighbouring countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
  3. Subsequent record will better improve this species understanding, and till greater clarity is achieved it should be treated as an escapee.

Pro-wild: 

  1. Lack of records in Malaysia for rarities showing up in Singapore is not unusual given Singapore's high observer density.
  2. Treron pigeons typically stay within their range and travel large distances within in search for food, but occasional vagrancy is exhibited (see eBird range maps for Wedge-tailed, Pin-tailed Green-Pigeons, and Yellow-vented Green Pigeon; see Wells (1999) for Thick-billed and Yellow-vented Green Pigeons). Parallels were drawn to Singapore's first Orange-breasted Green Pigeon record.
  3. Record was during migratory season and in the Central Catchment forest.
  4. Treron pigeons are barely, if ever, recorded during trade surveys (see numerous published TRAFFIC surveys and others). It is a highly niche collection.

Others: feather conditions
Pristine feathers were observed in this bird, which some take as supportive of wild birds, but points were noted that top collectors can keep their birds with minimal feather damage.
Vote results Cat A: 6, Cat E1: 2
Verdict Accepted / Wild (Verifiable)
Placed in Cat A

RECOMMENDED CITATION

Bird Society of Singapore. (2021). Record 10001: Ashy-headed Green Pigeon Treron phayrei. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://records.singaporebirds.com/record/10001/.

Media
Credit for photo(s): Yip Jen Wei
Photo credit: Yip Jen Wei
Photo credit: Yip Jen Wei
Photo credit: Yip Jen Wei

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