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List of birds of Singapore

Singapore has 364 species of birds on the official checklist. In addition to these are some ornamental birds, escapees and free-ranging birds from the Singapore Zoo or Jurong Bird Park, making a total of about 400 bird species. This is a substantial number for a small country like Singapore. However, with the rapid industrialization of this small island nation, more of nature is making way for human usage. Nevertheless, many nature areas are of easy access, making Singapore one of the best places for some good birding.

Human impact

Industrialization

Like all developing and developed nations, nature is often sacrificed for man-made structures, like housing estates, golf courses and factories. Many native species have disappeared since the 1950s. Gone are the magnificent trogons, and most of the broadbills, hornbills and woodpeckers - mainly forest birds. And many are joining the unfortunate fate of these birds. Senoko was a bird-rich site that was totally destroyed to make way for an industrial estate in the 1990s. Poyan Reservoir was enlarged and hence destroying the marsh around it and possibly decimating the breeding population of cotton pygmy geese and purple swamphen there. This was also a great place for migrant ducks and coots. Tanah Merah marsh is also gone forever. Many areas were also cleared in anticipation of future development and remained unused many years after, e.g. Simpang. Also many became designated military areas barring public access.

However, it was not always a losing battle. The establishment of Sungei Buloh Bird Sanctuary (now known as Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve) in 1993 was a huge success for the local birding community and rightfully so because it is an important roosting ground for many wintering waders, as well as being one of the remaining mangroves of Singapore. The preservation of Chek Jawa was another such victory.

Despite all the development, there are still 'bird-worthy' areas in Singapore. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is the last substantial primary forest in Singapore. Central Catchment Nature Reserve at the centre of Singapore comprises a secondary forest, a swamp forest and four large reservoirs, making it a haven for forest birds. Singapore Botanic Gardens is a manicured nature area but is a surprising great place to get up close and personal with some rare birds. Also of note are the various nature areas which are not designated protected areas, but are Important Bird Areas (IBA). Some of these are Changi Reclaimed Land, Pulau Ubin, Lorong Halus, Bukit Batok Nature Park.

Introduction

A number of species were originally aliens, but have become so established in Singapore that their status were changed to reflect their presence. The House Crow is the most successful introduced bird in Singapore. It was originally brought in from Sri Lanka for the purpose of controlling the caterpillar population, but the plan back-fired and instead of attacking the caterpillars, they became a pest. Now, the House Crow is found in almost all corners of Singapore (including offshore islands) except deep in the forests. Some exotic pets have also established themselves in Singapore. They were either escapees or released. These include various parrot species, Javan Myna, and House Sparrow.

The act of releasing animals for religious purpose is strongly discouraged but people are still doing it. Not only does doing so disrupt the ecosystem, most of the time, the released animals could not adapt to the new environment and die prematurely. However, birds are less prone to it as they could fly off from the alien environment they were released to more familiar ground. Some like the Rock Pigeon have gained a strong foothold in urban areas. It is difficult to determine which species was released and which are escapees and it could well be a combination of both throughout the years. Hence, they are lumped under the status 'Introduced'.

Most of the time, alien introduction brings negative effects like predators that prey on local life forms, competition with local community and diseases. The House Crow has driven the native Large-billed Crow into the forests. Javan Myna has become more abundant than the Common Myna. However, on rare occasion, alien introduction can have positive effect to a particular species. The introduction of the House Crow has benefited the Asian Koel, which brood-parasitizes the crow. Birders used to go to offshore islands to search for the Koel, now their loud characteristic ko-el call can be heard at all neighbourhoods.

Poaching

Despite being a developed nation, poaching is still going on in Singapore. Baya Weaver nests have been collected for sale. Even forest birds like the Olive-winged Bulbuls can be found in pet bird shops. Spotted Doves and Zebra Doves are constantly being trapped. Poachers bring their own doves and used their calls to attract other doves. Some use tape recorders to attract them. The only legalized killing of birds in Singapore, is the culling of House Crows.

Bird-watching in Singapore

Bird-watching (or simply birding) is a growing hobby everywhere. This is due to the availability of equipment like binoculars, scopes and digital photography to capture the beauty of birds. Also, birds are the animals one is most likely to encounter in a great variety due to their power of flight. The typical binocular for birding is an 8x30 or 10x42 (magnification x lens diameter in mm). The larger the magnification the larger the bird appears, but the tradeoff is less stability as our hands are always quivering. The larger the lens diameter the more light it can collect and channel to the eyes, but the tradeoff is the bulkiness. For faraway birds, a telescope will come in handy. The best can go up to 60X magnification. Coupled with a digital camera, the scope can be transformed into a great photography tool (digiscope). Digiscoping has become quite a popular substitute for DSLR photography because for someone who already has a scope, adding a camera attachment is comparatively cheap. However, digital SLR camera remains the tool professional bird photographers prefer due to the various lens adjustments, filters and settings they can play with.

Besides the optical tools, birders always carry a field guide. It is helpful for quick reference to identify the bird out in the field. A good field guide has descriptions of the birds and make comparison with similar birds, highlighting the subtle differences. It also shows the various morphs and breeding, non-breeding, immature, juvenile plumages of each species. While photographic guides are good (especially if one has a matching photo to compare), they do not easily show all these points. A well-drawn guide will be a better choice. Habitats, calls and songs, and behavioural details are also essential to identification of birds. A Field Guide to the Birds of South-east Asia by Craig Robson, is the authoritative guide for Singapore birders.

Getting hold of a local checklist is also helpful because sometimes identification of a bird depends on elimination. Does it have yellow feet? Does it prefer mangrove or grassland? Does it have an undulating flight? Birders carry pen and paper to note down the birds they see or hear and any interesting features or behaviour they observe. They wear dull-coloured clothes so as not to stand out in the field and disturbing the birds. The ethics of birding dictates that birders put the welfare of birds before the tick on the checklist.

List of birds

Abundance

VC = Very Common	C = Common	U = Uncommon
R = Rare	VR = Very Rare	Ex = Extinct

Status

I = Introduced	rI = Reintroduced	Es = Escapee
O = Ornamental	F = Free-ranging	RB = Resident Breeder
R = Resident	WV = Winter Visitor	PM = Passage Migrant
MB = Migrant Breeder	V = Vagrant	NBV = Non-breeding Visitor

Birding spots

BB = Bukit Batok	BC = Bukit Brown Cemetery	BG = Botanic Gardens
BT = Bukit Timah	CF = Central Forests	CR = Changi Reclaimed Land
FC = Fort Canning	JL = Jurong Lake	KB = Khatib Bongsu
KD = Kranji Dam/Reservoir	KM = Kranji Marsh	KR = Kent Ridge Park
LH = Lorong Halus	MF = Mt Faber	MM = Mandai Mudflat
MS = Marina South	NT = Neo Tiew Lane	PG = Punggol Grassland
PH = Pulau Hantu	PP = Pulau Punggol	PR = Pasir Ris
PS = Pulau Semakau	PT = Pulau Tekong	PU = Pulau Ubin
PY = Poyan	SB = Sungei Buloh	SG = Simpang Grassland
SJ = St John's Island	SL = Seletar	SR = Sarimbun
SS = Sungei Serangoon	ST = Sentosa	TB = Telok Blangah Hill
TG = Tuas Grassland	TP = Tampines	WC = West Coast