Prepared by the Singapore Bird Records Committee
The latest update of our checklist, version 2022-2, has been published. It can be accessed at our Downloads page.
Since our last checklist update in February 2022, the Records Committee has considered and voted on 80 records of rare birds in Singapore. We would like to thank all the observers who submitted their records, and these votes are published on our Recent Decisions page with our Live Checklist tracking additions and deletions to the checklist on a live basis.Â
We have also launched monthly roundups, published every month, to update the community on the latest sightings every month. Many of these incorporate sightings from our database in addition to eBird sightings, so we would also like to thank those who have contributed by sharing their observations.
Nearly 200 historical records have also been added to our database since February. This is all thanks to the work of our Records Gathering team, comprising Clarice Yan, Geraldine Lee, Hong Yao Lim, Hui Zhen Tan, Kee Jing Ying, Yip Jen Wei, and Zachary Chong, who have meticulously trawled social media, eBird, and other publications for important historical records. This work is still under way, with a further 130 records on track to be uploaded within the next one week, and the updated compilation status for each species is always available in our Rarities List.
Our Records Committee’s operating guidelines have been formalised as well, and will be published on our site in the coming weeks.
This article includes the updates to our checklist since our last revision in February 2022. Our checklist is based on the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) taxonomy, and this version is based on IOC 12.2. This is the latest taxonomical version and was finalised this month.
This edition of the checklist is version 2022-2, and can be downloaded at our Downloads page. There are now 427 species in the Singapore Bird Checklist with the species additions in this update.
Added to checklist
Christmas Frigatebird Fregata andrewsi [Record 10163]: One bird at Marina East Drive on 26 Jan 2022 moved this species from to Category A. While this species has been recorded from Singapore before (most recently in 1986, at the National Stadium), this was more than 30 years ago. The last record was from outside Singapore’s territorial waters in May 2013, and this record had put this species in the Annex of the Singapore Bird Checklist.
Masked Booby Sula dactylatra [Record 383]: The committee reevaluated one record of a bird rescued from the Pan Island Expressway in August 2018, and determined it was most likely a legitimate record. The species was added to Category A.
Black-backed Swamphen Pophyrio indicus [Record 10281]: One sighting of a bird at Changi Business Park was the first confirmed record of this species in Singapore. Features noted by the committee in accepting this record included the shape of the frontal shield as well as the dark head colour, which indicated this was not a Grey-headed Swamphen P. poliocephalus instead. We have identified some past sightings which may also pertain to this species and intend to review them as well in the coming months.
Removed from checklist
No species were removed.
Other minor changes
Western and Eastern Osprey are lumped, so Western Osprey in our checklist is changed to Osprey.
Brown Hawk-Owl is renamed to Brown Boobook.
Brown Boobook at Venus Drive. Photo Credit: Francis Yap
