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Science
February 7, 2024 / February 7, 2024 by Francis Yap | 2 Comments on Top 10 most observed birds in Singapore and the region
Rare birds get the most attention these days. The rarer the bird is, and the more unique it is, the more birders and the general public want to flock to see, photograph and post about their encounters in social media. We are however curious about the complete opposite in this article. Have you ever wondered which bird species you will most likely encounter in your daily life?
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Birders' Stories
October 2, 2022 / August 5, 2024 by Francis Yap | 5 Comments on Better Birds, Birders and Birding Through Data (Singapore Edition)
Introduction Ask any experienced birder in Singapore about what’s the best and busiest month for birding and you’ll hear either October or November mentioned. After all, migratory birds are coming in fast and furious during this period. One must therefore ask the question, “Are there any studies done to establish whether these two months are […]
Checklist Revisions
January 25, 2021 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
The latest revision of the Singapore Bird List is now derived from IOC World Bird List Version 11.1. The downloadable list (in Excel format) is available HERE. The following are the major changes: Addition: Common Swift – First record of a single bird on 9 October 2020 at Jelutong Tower, Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Second […]
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Trip Reports
September 21, 2020 / December 3, 2021 by Francis Yap | 2 Comments on Pelagic Bird Trip at the Singapore Strait – 20 September 2020
This year, the pandemic has generally been a restrictive affair for birding. During spring migration, our pelagic trips were cancelled as tighter restrictions meant most of us were working from home, and recreational activities were generally prohibited. Since then, as the COVID-19 pandemic has been somewhat under control in Singapore, certain restrictions were eased. It […]
August 3, 2020 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | 2 Comments on Bird List Revision for August 2020
The latest revision of the Singapore Bird List is now derived from IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. The downloadable list (in Excel format) is available HERE. The following are the major changes: Addition: Shikra: – A single juvenile bird reported flying pass at Jelutong Tower on 21 November 2019 represent the first confirmed record […]
March 14, 2020 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
This is the latest revision of the Singapore Bird List dated 14 March 2020. The downloadable list (in Excel format) is available HERE. The following are the major changes: Addition: White-cheeked Starling: – A single bird first reported at Picadilly, Seletar on 16 January 2020, which represent the first confirmed record for this very rare […]
January 28, 2020 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
The latest revision of the Singapore Bird List is now derived from IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. The downloadable list (in Excel format) is available HERE. The following are the major changes: Addition: Taiga Flycatcher: – A single bird first reported at Singapore Botanical Gardens on 1 December 2019 represent the first confirmed record […]
November 18, 2019 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
The third revision of the Singapore Bird List for 2019 is now available at our website. There are now 408 birds recorded in our list. The downloadable list (in Excel format) is available HERE. There are four new species added in this revision. Pied Stilt 2 stilts were first observed on 16 July 2019 at […]
May 2, 2019 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
A minor revision to the checklist to cover changes and corrections to the Malay names of bird species. The changes are as follows (new Malay names in bracket): Red Junglefowl (Ayam-Hutan Biasa) Malaysian Plover (Rapang Pantai Melayu) Oriental Plover (Rapang Padang Asia Timur) Whimbrel (Kendi Gajah) Little Curlew (Kendi Kerdil Asia) Far Eastern Curlew (Kendi […]
March 4, 2019 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
The latest revision of the Singapore Bird List is now derived from IOC World Bird List Version 9.1. Changes are as follow: Addition: Black-headed Bunting – A single bird seen at Kranji Marsh/Neo Tiew Harvest Lane on 18th November 2018 (Martin Kennewell and friends). There are doubts about the condition of tail feathers, but the […]
November 12, 2018 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | 1 Comment on Bird List Revision for November 2018
The fourth revision of the Singapore Bird List for 2018 is now available at our website. The downloadable list (in Excel format) is available HERE. There are two new species added in this revision. Large Woodshrike A female Large Woodshrike was seen at Jelutong Tower on the morning of 22 October 2018. This species was […]
September 5, 2018 / August 4, 2023 by Francis Yap | 2 Comments on First breeding record of the Barred Eagle-Owl in Singapore Island
The Barred Eagle-Owl (Bubo sumatranus) is a relatively small eagle-owl that is found from southern Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and southwards to Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland rainforests. It has also been reported in secondary growth, abandoned orchards, oil palm plantations and wooded gardens, showing its adaptability towards human encroachments. […]
June 1, 2018 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
The third revision of the Singapore Bird List for 2018 is now available at our website. The downloadable list (in Excel format) is available HERE. There is one new species added in this revision, the Great Slaty Woodpecker. Previously considered to be extirpated from Singapore, with 2 unconfirmed sightings at Changi in the 1970s. A […]
May 6, 2018 / December 3, 2021 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
On 5 May 2018, a boat with 10 birders/bird photographers boarded from Marina Cove, Sentosa and headed towards the eastern part of the Singapore Strait up until closer to coast of Pengerang, Malaysia. The weather was fine, and we expected we should see a mixture of the usual resident seabirds as well as some spring […]
April 2, 2018 / December 3, 2021 by Francis Yap | 3 Comments on Bird List Revision for April 2018
The second revision of the Singapore Bird List for 2018 is now available at our website. The Excel format of the list is available HERE. There is one new species added in this revision, the Indian Paradise Flycatcher. A single bird was reported by Feroz Fizah at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve on 23 March 2018 […]
January 30, 2018 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
The latest revision of the Singapore Bird List is now derived from IOC World Bird List Version 8.1. Changes are as follow: Addition: Little Stint– Two birds at Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin on 21 September 2017 by NParks (David Li, Jacky Soh and Fadhli Ahmad) Addition: Verditer Flycatcher – A single bird photographed by George […]
August 1, 2017 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
We are pleased to publish the latest revision of the Singapore Bird List to include taxonomic changes based on the latest IOC World Bird List version 7.3. The changes are: Replacing Glossy Swiftlet with Plume-toed Swiftlet due to split of the Glossy Swiftlet species complex (Rheindt et al. 2017) Change of genus name for Garganey […]
June 13, 2017 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
We have revised our Singapore Bird List with the following changes: The changes are: Addition: Ruby-cheeked Sunbird – 2005 record from Martin Kennewell Addition: Green Broadbill – 2014 records from Pulau Ubin (Keita Sin) and East Coast Park (See Toh Yew Wai) Deletion: Western Marsh Harrier Taxonomic change – Himalayan Cuckoo from Oriental Cuckoo The […]
May 1, 2017 / December 3, 2021 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
In the early morning of 29 April 2017, 2 boats with 10 birders/bird photographers on board each set off from Marina Cove headed towards Horsburgh Lighthouse. The lead boat “Boon Teik” was followed closely by its sister boat “Popeye“. This is the second trip organised by See Toh Yew Wai with mainly contributors to the […]
April 23, 2017 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
There have been some minor English Name as well as Scientific Name changes to be in sync with the IOC World Bird List version 7.2 published in April 22 2017. The English Name changes are are: Blyth’s Paradise Flycatcher from Oriental Paradise Flycatcher. Rufous-bellied Eagle from Rufous-bellied Hawk-Eagle. The Scientific Name changes are: Ruff […]
January 13, 2017 / August 31, 2022 by Francis Yap | Leave a Comment
We have made some additions as well as deletions to our checklist based on recent sightings or the lack of them. The new additions are: Jacobin Cuckoo which was sighted in December 2013 and on subsequent season in 2014, both at Lorong Halus Wetland. Black Hornbill with a subadult male sighting in July 2015 at […]
October 16, 2016 / December 2, 2021 by Francis Yap | 1 Comment on Pelagic Bird Survey at the Singapore Strait – 15 October 2016
A few of the regular contributors of the Singapore Birds Project organized and gathered together for a pelagic bird survey trip to the Singapore Strait. This time, we decided to head west of Sentosa (our starting point) towards the direction of Karimun Island and Kukup, Malaysia and heading back towards Singapore in a loop. This […]
September 20, 2016 / December 2, 2021 by Francis Yap | 2 Comments on Loke Wan Tho – A Company of Birds
Published in 1959, the book “A Company of Birds” is a collection of bird photographs, ornithological notes and a semi-autobiography by Loke Wan Tho. These days, not many people recognise the name. Cathay Organization is perhaps better known in Singapore and Malaysia as a cinema chain, and in the past as a film studio as […]
March 1, 2016 / January 4, 2024 by Francis Yap | 2 Comments on Local extinctions of Singapore birds
There is an interesting paper recently published in the prestigious journal Conservation Biology by members of two National University of Singapore (NUS) labs titled “A robust non-parametric method for quantifying undetected extinctions” that came to our attention. In it, they presented a novel method of estimating undetected extinction, i.e. the type of extinction events that […]
