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Monthly Roundups
October 23, 2024 / October 23, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
In September we welcomed most familiar migrants back to our shores, but most of the action this month was concentrated offshore, with seabird migration through our waters in full swing.
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September 20, 2024 / September 20, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
August was a month of rare shorebirds, but most only stayed for one day. We also welcomed the reappearance of the Black-and-red Broadbill that was first ringed at Sungei Buloh in 2019.
ID Articles
September 8, 2024 / September 10, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
September marks the arrival of Whiskered Terns to our shores, followed closely behind by White-winged Terns. However, these two species are among the most mis-identified in Singapore, with juvenile Whiskered Terns being easily confused with White-winged Terns.
Checklist Revisions
September 5, 2024 / October 11, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
The latest update of our checklist, version 2024-2, has been published. It can be accessed at our Downloads page.
August 25, 2024 / August 25, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
The main attraction in July was a Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo, with the stilts at Tuas South a welcome addition as well.
July 24, 2024 / July 24, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
The Black-winged Stilts drew much attention in June, and a lucky few managed to see a single Pied Stilt in their midst – just the sixth record for Singapore. Not to be forgotten was a single Jacobin Cuckoo at Kallang Riverside Park (this record is still under review by the Records Committee).
June 22, 2024 / July 28, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
An otherwise slow month was brightened by Singapore's first record of Two-barred Warbler, and a Short-tailed Shearwater that unfortunately died after being rescued.
Science
June 13, 2024 / June 13, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
By Raghav Narayanswamy Thanks to CN Lee’s hard work and sharp eyes, as well as Vincent Ng’s follow-up, many of us were fortunate enough to twitch Singapore’s fourth Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola in January. I was lucky to have the opportunity to visit several(…!) times and observe its moult over the course of its 2.5-month […]
Significant Records
May 24, 2024 / May 24, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
Raghav Narayanswamy On 5 May 2024, Frank Rheindt discovered Singapore’s first record of the Two-barred Warbler Phylloscopus plumbeitarsus at Kent Vale. The excellent photographs of this bird, but more importantly the audio recordings of its call and song, eventually left no doubt as to its identification. This photo captures all the features which immediately rule […]
May 22, 2024 / May 22, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
A very profitable April for van drivers at ferry operators at Pulau Ubin, but unfortunately neither of the standout birds at Chek Jawa stayed longer than a day.
April 24, 2024 / April 24, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
With three confirmed records of the Oriental Turtle Dove in Singapore over the last 6 years, and clear signs pointing to captive provenance for the latter two records, the Singapore Bird Records Committee reviewed the status of this species in Singapore.
April 22, 2024 / April 22, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | 2 Comments on Monthly Roundup: Mar 2024
With Chek Jawa not quite taking off (yet?) this year, March was mostly quiet with just a few lingering rarities from earlier in the season.
March 25, 2024 / March 25, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
The undoubted highlight of February 2024 was the Band-bellied Crake found by Art Toh and Choon Siang Tang at Ulu Sembawang.
February 25, 2024 / February 25, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
The year was off to a good start with a White-throated Rock Thrush on New Year's Day, and it was soon joined by other megas this month.
Birding Starter Pack
February 4, 2024 / February 5, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | 2 Comments on Reporting your bird records: how you do it matters!
In a recent article, we covered hidden clues in the identification process which can come to your rescue with harder-to-ID birds. The next step is reporting your bird records. We’ve written previously on why you should share your bird records – it builds our community’s understanding of our birds. This article highlights the reasons why the way that you report and share your bird records is important.
January 26, 2024 / January 26, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
Tufted Duck was the mega for December, but the two birds were only in view for a total of a few seconds. The wintering harriers at Tuas were a bit of a consolation prize, presenting the best views in years, and included an adult male Pied Harrier – the first wintering male in several years.
ID Articles Science
January 25, 2024 / January 25, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
With the recent sighting of a Citrine Wagtail at Neo Tiew, the common migrant Eastern Yellow Wagtails have received more attention too. Despite some common misconceptions, current evidence suggests almost all wintering birds in Singapore are not identifiable to subspecies. Only taivana can be conclusively identified, and Manchurian/Amur-breeding macronyx is not separable from Arctic-breeding plexa and tschutschensis.
January 13, 2024 / August 24, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
The latest update of our checklist, version 2024-1, has been published. It can be accessed at our Downloads page.
January 8, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
Photos are often only one piece of the complex puzzle of bird identification. With a bit of attention to other details of a bird, you can often make it a lot easier to figure out the identity of a bird you're looking at.
December 28, 2023 / December 28, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
The White's Thrush at Singapore Botanic Gardens presented a significant identification challenge. The Records Committee shares its take on the bird.
December 21, 2023 / December 21, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
Raptor watching continued to deliver in early November, with several rather cooperative (but not for everyone!) Short-toed Snake Eagles, but the highlight of the month was a likely White's Thrush at the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
November 24, 2023 / December 9, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
Shorebirds at our raptor watch sites and better seabirds from land than from sea made for a slightly offbeat October, but the month still brought lots of expected migrants too.
October 22, 2023 / October 22, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
A good variety of species made this the best season for rare migratory shorebirds in recent years, with Asian Dowitcher, Eurasian Curlew, and Broad-billed Sandpiper all being recorded. September is also the month for Swinhoe's Storm Petrels in the Singapore Strait, with a lucky group encountering three birds on the last day of the month.
Birding Starter Pack ID Articles
October 20, 2023 / October 13, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | 2 Comments on Introducing the Visual Guide to Singapore Raptors
Our new, comprehensive Visual Guide to Singapore Raptors will be your best friend as you scan the skies. In this guide, we have plates individually capturing each of Singapore’s 25 (as of writing) non-vagrant raptors, meaning every raptor species which appears more or less annually has its own page, including all residents. The remaining species are also illustrated on a smaller page. We also highlight the other migratory birds which are often seen from raptor watch sites like Henderson Waves on a separate panel.
