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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.
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Monthly Roundups
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.
Checklist Revisions
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.
Significant Records
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.
September 22, 2023 / September 22, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
August saw the return of the shorebirds and first passerine migrants to our shores.
August 24, 2023 / August 24, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
The Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo was a lifer for many birders this July, as it has not been recorded in several years, and for those who missed the Great Slaty Woodpecker earlier this year, the one at Ulu Sembawang seems to be sticking around a lot longer. Unfortunately, the Black-thighed Falconet and White-chested Babbler were less obliging.
July 31, 2023 / December 25, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | 1 Comment on Checklist Revision for August 2023
The latest update of our checklist, version 2023-3, has been published. It can be accessed at our Downloads page.
July 29, 2023 / July 29, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | 2 Comments on Sand plovers in Singapore: two species or three?
Might Singapore have three species of sand plover? It might seem an odd question – we usually only mention the Lesser Sand Plovers, which are pretty common, with the rare Greater sometimes turning up. What’s the third one then?
July 22, 2023 / August 3, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
A quiet June, as is typical, with continuing sightings of the White-crowned Hornbill and some other uncommon residents.
June 23, 2023 / August 3, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
Many birders in Singapore will remember the two flocks of Pied Stilt from this month, appearing almost at the same time, and even landing themselves a spot in the news!
May 26, 2023 / February 2, 2024 by raghavnarayanswamy | 1 Comment on Status of the Stripe-throated Bulbul in Singapore
Singapore has seen two Stripe-throated Bulbuls over the last one year or so. Here's what the Singapore Bird Records Committee had to say about their possible status in the country.
May 20, 2023 / May 20, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
Birders were glued to Chek Jawa this April, and with its selection of rarities it's not hard to see why!
May 9, 2023 / December 28, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | 3 Comments on Singapore’s first wild White-crowned Hornbill
The Singapore Bird Checklist just got its 429th species! This article explores how the Records Committee's discussions led us to the conclusion the White-crowned Hornbill was likely a wild bird.
Birders' Stories
May 8, 2023 / May 8, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | 2 Comments on The discovery of the White-crowned Hornbill in Singapore
Shubo (Kiri) Zhang was one of the first observers to find and report the White-crowned Hornbill at Chek Jawa. In this contribution to our blog, he brings us through the journey of making this remarkable discovery.
April 22, 2023 / April 22, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
March is normally when migrants are starting to return north, but it wasn't a quiet month by any stretch!
March 22, 2023 / April 15, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
A relatively quiet February 2023, with the highlight being a Grey-headed Lapwing at Holland Plain.
February 21, 2023 / February 21, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | Leave a Comment
The New Year started off with a group of four stilts at Marina East Drive – unfortunately, all turned out to be Black-winged in the end. Apart from that, the usual suspects kept us busy through the month, along with some rarities.
February 5, 2023 / February 6, 2023 by raghavnarayanswamy | 1 Comment on Checklist Revision for February 2023
The latest update of our checklist, version 2023-1, has been published. It can be accessed at our Downloads page.
