Written by T. Ramesh

I started birdwatching in late 2017 and it has now become my primary passion. My family calls it an addiction, though I argue it is a healthy one since I walk a lot instead of just waiting for the birds. Being with nature is also my greatest stress buster :). When I first started birding, I was just happy to see and photograph the birds, but as I continued on with my hobby, I slowly developed an interest in video recording bird behaviours such as foraging, preening, mating, and their calls.

Why I started a Bird Call YouTube channel

Singapore has 428 species of birds, and the Bird Society of Singapore has a comprehensive online guide called Birds of Singapore (https://singaporebirds.com). This is my first go-to-guide on information on birds in Singapore and I find it very useful for bird identification. In the field, I also use Xeno-Canto (https://xeno-canto.org), an online database with audio recordings of bird calls.

However, I realised there is no video library focusing on calls/songs of birds from Singapore. Inspired by the great work by the Bird Society of Singapore, I thought of creating a video library of bird calls to document the sounds of amazing birds here. These videos can provide visual introduction of our birds to budding birders and even benefit birders across the globe who want to know more about birds we have. Additionally, this would also help the birding community, especially those with a special interest in learning about bird calls. With these benefits in mind, I decided to start a library with videos I had recorded over the past few years and launched a YouTube channel called “Bird Calls of Singapore” (http://www.youtube.com//@BirdcallsSG) on 29^th March 2024 with 71 videos. Since then, I have added 40 more new videos.

There are 3 playlists in this channel:

1. All the birds (111 videos so far)
2. Residents (86 videos so far)
3. Migrants (25 videos so far)

Here is my full list by species as of 31^st Dec 2024:

Family	No.	English Name	Scientific Name	Playlists
Ducks, Geese, Swans (Anatidae)	1	Lesser Whistling Duck	Dendrocygna javanica	Resident
Pheasants & Allies (Phasianidae)	2	Red Junglefowl	Gallus gallus	Migrant
Cuckoos (Cuculidae)	3	Greater Coucal	Centropus sinensis	Resident
	4	Lesser Coucal	Centropus bengalensis	Resident
	5	Chestnut-winged Cuckoo	Clamator coromandus	Migrant
	6	Asian Koel	Eudynamys scolopaceus	Resident
	7	Little Bronze Cuckoo	Chrysococcyx minutillus	Resident
	8	Plaintive Cuckoo	Cacomantis merulinus	Resident
	9	Rusty-breasted Cuckoo	Cacomantis sepulcralis	Resident
	10	Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo	Surniculus lugubris	Migrant
	11	Spotted Dove	Spilopelia chinensis	Resident
	12	Zebra Dove	Geopelia striata	Resident
	13	Pink-necked Green Pigeon	Treron vernans	Resident
	14	Green Imperial Pigeon	Ducula aenea	Resident
	15	Red-legged Crake	Rallina fasciata	Resident
	16	White-breasted Waterhen	Amaurornis phoenicurus	Resident
Stilts, Avocets (Recurvirostridae)	17	Black-winged Stilt	Himantopus himantopus	Resident
	18	Pacific Golden Plover	Pluvialis fulva	Migrant
	19	Red-wattled Lapwing	Vanellus indicus	Resident
	20	Masked Lapwing	Vanellus miles	Resident
	21	Tibetan Sand Plover	Anarhynchus atrifrons	Migrant
	22	Greater Sand Plover	Anarhynchus leschenaultii	Migrant
	23	Malaysian Plover	Anarhynchus peronii	Resident
	24	Terek Sandpiper	Xenus cinereus	Migrant
	25	Common Sandpiper	Actitis hypoleucos	Migrant
	26	Common Redshank	Tringa totanus	Migrant
	27	Common Greenshank	Tringa nebularia	Migrant
	28	Little Tern	Sternula albifrons	Resident
	29	Black-naped Tern	Sterna sumatrana	Resident
	30	Crested Honey Buzzard	Pernis ptilorhynchus	Migrant
	31	Changeable Hawk-Eagle	Nisaetus cirrhatus	Resident
	32	Spotted Wood Owl	Strix seloputo	Resident
Hornbills (Bucerotidae)	33	White-crowned Hornbill	Berenicornis comatus	Migrant
	34	Oriental Pied Hornbill	Anthracoceros albirostris	Resident
Rollers (Coraciidae)	35	Oriental Dollarbird	Eurystomus orientalis	Resident
Kingfishers (Alcedinidae)	36	Stork-billed Kingfisher	Pelargopsis capensis	Resident
	37	White-throated Kingfisher	Halcyon smyrnensis	Resident
	38	Collared Kingfisher	Todiramphus chloris	Resident
	39	Blue-eared Kingfisher	Alcedo meninting	Resident
Asian Barbets (Megalaimidae)	40	Lineated Barbet	Psilopogon lineatus	Resident
	41	Red-crowned Barbet	Psilopogon rafflesii	Resident
	42	Coppersmith Barbet	Psilopogon haemacephalus	Resident
Woodpeckers (Picidae)	43	Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker	Yungipicus moluccensis	Resident
	44	Common Flameback	Dinopium javanense	Resident
	45	Buff-rumped Woodpecker	Meiglyptes grammithorax	Migrant
Cockatoos (Cacatuidae)	46	Tanimbar Corella	Cacatua goffiniana	Resident
African & New World Parrots (Psittacidae)	47	Monk Parakeet	Myiopsitta monachus	Resident
	48	Red-breasted Parakeet	Psittacula alexandri	Resident
	49	Long-tailed Parakeet	Psittacula longicauda	Resident
	50	Rose-ringed Parakeet	Psittacula krameri	Resident
	51	Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot	Loriculus galgulus	Resident
Typical Broadbills (Eurylaimidae)	52	Black-and-red Broadbill	Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos	Migrant
African & Green Broadbills (Calyptomenidae)	53	Green Broadbill	Calyptomena viridis	Migrant
Vangas & Allies (Vangidae)	54	Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike	Hemipus hirundinaceus	Migrant
Ioras (Aegithinidae)	55	Common Iora	Aegithina tiphia	Resident
Whistlers & Allies (Pachycephalidae)	56	Mangrove Whistler	Pachycephala cinerea	Resident
Figbirds, Old World Orioles, Piopios (Oriolidae)	57	Black-naped Oriole	Oriolus chinensis	Resident
Drongos (Dicruridae)	58	Crow-billed Drongo	Dicrurus annectens	Migrant
	59	Greater Racket-tailed Drongo	Dicrurus paradiseus	Resident
	60	Ashy Drongo	Dicrurus leucophaeus	Migrant
Fantails (Rhipiduridae)	61	Malaysian Pied Fantail	Rhipidura javanica	Resident
	62	Amur Paradise Flycatcher	Terpsiphone incei	Migrant
Shrikes (Laniidae)	63	Tiger Shrike	Lanius tigrinus	Migrant
	64	Brown Shrike	Lanius cristatus	Migrant
	65	Long-tailed Shrike	Lanius schach	Resident
	66	House Crow	Corvus splendens	Resident
	67	Large-billed Crow	Corvus macrorhynchos	Resident
	68	Olive-winged Bulbul	Pycnonotus plumosus	Resident
	69	Straw-headed Bulbul	Pycnonotus zeylanicus	Resident
	70	Red-whiskered Bulbul	Pycnonotus jocosus	Resident
	71	Yellow-vented Bulbul	Pycnonotus goiavier	Resident
	72	Sooty-headed Bulbul	Pycnonotus aurigaster	Resident
	73	Pacific Swallow	Hirundo tahitica	Resident
Leaf Warblers (Phylloscopidae)	74	Yellow-browed Warbler	Phylloscopus inornatus	Migrant
	75	Dusky Warbler	Phylloscopus fuscatus	Migrant
	76	Arctic Warbler	Phylloscopus borealis	Migrant
Cisticolas & Allies (Cisticolidae)	77	Zitting Cisticola	Cisticola juncidis	Resident
	78	Yellow-bellied Prinia	Prinia flaviventris	Resident
	79	Common Tailorbird	Orthotomus sutorius	Resident
	80	Rufous-tailed Tailorbird	Orthotomus sericeus	Resident
	81	Ashy Tailorbird	Orthotomus ruficeps	Resident
White-eyes (Zosteropidae)	82	Swinhoe’s White-eye	Zosterops simplex	Resident
Babblers, Scimitar Babblers (Timaliidae)	83	Pin-striped Tit-Babbler	Mixornis gularis	Resident
	84	Abbott’s Babbler	Malacocincla abbotti	Resident
	85	White-crested Laughingthrush	Garrulax leucolophus	Resident
Fairy-bluebirds (Irenidae)	86	Asian Fairy-bluebird	Irena puella	Resident
Starlings, Rhabdornises (Sturnidae)	87	Asian Glossy Starling	Aplonis panayensis	Resident
	88	Common Hill Myna	Gracula religiosa	Resident
	89	Javan Myna	Acridotheres javanicus	Resident
	90	Common Myna	Acridotheres tristis	Resident
Chats, Old World Flycatchers (Muscicapidae)	91	Oriental Magpie-Robin	Copsychus saularis	Resident
	92	White-rumped Shama	Copsychus malabaricus	Resident
	93	Asian Brown Flycatcher	Muscicapa dauurica	Migrant
	94	Lesser Green Leafbird	Chloropsis cyanopogon	Resident
	95	Orange-bellied Flowerpecker	Dicaeum trigonostigma	Resident
	96	Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker	Dicaeum cruentatum	Resident
	97	Brown-throated Sunbird	Anthreptes malacensis	Resident
	98	Van Hasselt’s Sunbird	Leptocoma brasiliana	Resident
	99	Copper-throated Sunbird	Leptocoma calcostetha	Resident
	100	Ornate Sunbird	Cinnyris ornatus	Resident
	101	Crimson Sunbird	Aethopyga siparaja	Resident
	102	Little Spiderhunter	Arachnothera longirostra	Resident
Weavers, Widowbirds (Ploceidae)	103	Golden-backed Weaver	Ploceus jacksoni	Resident
Waxbills, Munias & Allies (Estrildidae)	104	Scaly-breasted Munia	Lonchura punctulata	Resident
	105	Chestnut Munia	Lonchura atricapilla	Resident
	106	White-headed Munia	Lonchura maja	Resident
	107	Paddyfield Pipit	Anthus rufulus	Resident

Challenges of creating bird call videos:

One of the challenges of video recording is that birds do not always come out openly to call or sing. Sometimes, when they do vocalise, the recording environment may instead not be ideal because of factors like background noise, or wrong camera settings. I had a funny encounter while video recording the calls of the White-crested Laughingthrushes. These gregarious and cheerful birds have loud calls and are a common sight at Bukit Batok Nature Park. I thought it would be an easy job to record their calls and travelled all the way from the east where I reside, westwards to Bukit Batok Nature Park. Soon after reaching, a flock came close to me and started calling. I focused on one bird which was calling and pressed the ‘record’ button. As if to tease me, this bird stopped calling immediately while another bird behind me started! I quickly turned to find the other bird to record it, but the same story repeated…this bird also stopped calling and flew off towards a different side of the trees, then started calling again, as if to mock me. I could not see the bird, so I went around to trees to try to get a view, only to be blocked by a troop of eager Long-tailed Macaques that had gotten a whiff of the banana in my backpack. One bold monkey even showed its teeth in aggression, and I frantically searched for a long stick to defend myself. While this was happening, my target flock of White-crested Laughingthrushes disappeared into the woods, still calling loudly. My mission was a failure :).  It eventually took me a whole three visits to Bukit Batok Nature Park until I finally succeeded in getting a video recording of their call.

Recording equipment and software used:

I started video recording with the Sony RX10 IV camera and am currently using the Sony A9ii with a 200-600mm lens. I do not use a tripod and hence I record relatively short videos. I do not use any external microphone either and rely on camera’s built-in microphone. The Audacity software is of great help for editing and enhancing the sound recordings, and I also use the Apple iMovie to edit and stabilise any shakes in my videos. While video recording bird calls, I particularly look for beak movements of the birds, uncluttered background, and a relatively quiet place. If fellow birders are present, I express my intention to record the call, and I usually get their support.

My favourite bird call videos

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, Ashy Drongo & Terek Sandpiper are my favourite recordings as these species rarely call/sing in Singapore.

1. Chestnut-winged Cuckoo’s call:

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo’s call at Lorong Halus – only record of its call in Singapore in Xeno-Canto

 

2. Ashy Drongo (White-faced)’s call:

Ashy Drongo at Changi Business Park Canal, only video recording of its call in Singapore

 

3. Terek Sandpiper’s call:

Terek Sandpiper’s call at Marina East Drive, only record of its call in Singapore in Xeno-Canto

 

I have set a personal goal of recording 200 videos, including 50 of migrant species by 2026. This is a big goal from my current 111 videos, but I’m sure this will motivate me to try harder. I will be especially delighted if I can record any of these migrant cuckoos – Himalayan/Oriental Cuckoo, Hodgson-Hawk Cuckoo, Indian Cuckoo, Horsfield Bronze Cuckoo, and Large Hawk Cuckoo. It is very encouraging for me that my YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com//@BirdcallsSG) has gathered 76,000 views from audience across 35 countries that since launching it, and I will definitely continue this endeavour with enthusiasm! I hope you enjoy watching these videos as much as I enjoy making them. I thank all my birding friends who have encouraged, supported and contributed to making this initiative possible.