Green Pigeon: New Singapore Species?

A recent new find in Asia must be understood in the larger context of how the birding community discusses “new species.” Not all talk of “new discoveries” of birds are of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker variety or level of effort, but most are of the talk of ranges, new life list records, and interlopers.

As a heads-up to how insiders in birding “see the world,” there are ongoing discussions of when “new species” appear in areas they have not been seen before. This has nothing to do with the discovery of “new species,” per se, but does sometimes generate a bit of a buzz in the birding media about “new species discoveries,” especially if there are good visuals to go with the story.

The images of this bird were posted on Avian Watch Asia, and represent a new record by Dr. Jonathan Cheah Weng Kwong at the Japanese Garden in Jurong, Singapore, on December 22, 2007. A lone bird was seen on a salam tree (Syzygium polyantha), quietly eating the tree’s fruits for about 15 minutes before it flew off.

Birder Albert Low then tentatively identified the bird as a possible Orange-breasted Green-pigeon (Treron bicincta). This species, known from Sri Lanka, eastern Java, and northern Bali, has been recorded as far south as Port Dickson in Penisular Malaysia. Low felt, just like the Jambu Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus jambu), this bird could occur in Singapore, particularly during big figging seasons. He appears to have been correct.

This is the first sighting of the Orange-breasted Green Pigeon in Singapore, a male bird. The bird looks like the Pink-necked Green Pigeon (Treron vernans), except that the forehead, face and throat are greenish yellow. Also, the mauve-pink upper breast area is smaller and does not extend to the neck. The outer feathers of the tail is blackish, with a broad pale grey subterminal band.

1. Anon, “Orange-breasted Green Pigeon sighted in Jurong”: http://besgroup.talfrynature.com/?p=2471
2. Baptista, L. F., Trail, P. W. & Horblit, H. M. (1997). Family Columbidae (pigeons and doves). Pp. 60-245 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. eds. Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 4. Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Barcelona: Lynx Editions.
3. Gibbs, D., Barnes, E. & Cox, J. (2001). Pigeons and doves: A guide to the pigeons and doves of the world. Sussex: Pica Press.
4. Wells, D.R. (1999). The birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsular. Vol. I, Non-passerines. Academic Press, London.
5. Additional information from Dr. Jonathan Cheah Weng Kwong and Albert Low; images by Johathan.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

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