A Year at Jelutong Tower

Jelutong Tower is one of the few places in Singapore that offers rare eye level views of canopy birds in Singapore. Jayden and Jun Ze shares their experience birding at the tower every weekend for a whole year.

The gargantuan Dipterocarps and colossal canopy covers the sun, delaying sunrise by 15 minutes. The sun then ascends past the two Jelutong trees, and its warmth hugs us tight. Birds awaken and present themselves, bursting with song and melody. Birdwatching at Jelutong Tower and watching the late sunrises will always be a magical experience for us… The view from Jelutong Tower Jelutong Tower is a 7-storey tall tower, situated next to a valley which looks towards MacRitchie Reservoir. Located next to a few fruiting trees, Jelutong Tower allows birdwatchers like us to get good photographs of frugivores, as well as observe their feeding behaviour. Our experience We visited Jelutong Tower every weekend for about a year and a half straight, from December 2021 to April 2023. Almost every Sunday was spent hiking on trails running through mature, dense secondary forests. An abundance of free time and little commitments at the time meant that we could spend as much time as we wanted to birdwatch. Our aim was to get good photos or at least sightings of the Violet Cuckoo and Black-headed Bulbul. When the first rays of sun start to peek through the dense canopy and the surroundings start to heat up, many birds come out to sing and establish their territories. Familiar voices like the monotonous pings of Pin-striped Tit-babblers and metallic rings of Greater Racket-tailed Drongos echo throughout the forest at first light, while others like the 3 common Pycnonotus bulbuls (Olive-winged Bulbul, Cream-vented Bulbul, and Asian Red-eyed Bulbul) take their turn in serenading us with their pleasant and bubbly songs. Red-crowned Barbet on a fruiting fig tree We observed that frugivores usually woke before the insectivores, and they seemed to forage and feed in fruiting trees before sunrise. Such trees also attracted some of the more elusive forest dwellers like the Thick-billed Green Pigeon and Greater Green Leafbird amongst the dozens of Pink-necked Green Pigeons and Bulbuls. Asian Fairy-bluebirds would noisily flit in and out of the foliage, grabbing low hanging fruit that others would not bother taking. There would usually be 1 or 2 Red-crowned Barbets slowly making their way through the buffet, snapping at anything that came in their way. Thick-billed green pigeon resting after a meal At the tower or at any fruiting trees in the Central Catchment, we also often found Blue-winged Leafbirds travelling in flocks of no less than three. They presented themselves with an entrance of songs of tweets and chatter, and fluttered around, drinking from flowers and the morning dew that collected on leaves. Blue-winged Leafbird drinking nectar at Jelutong Tower. Crimson Sunbirds and Orange-bellied Flowerpeckers woke up a little later but never disappointed with their energetic personality and colourful displays. When the forest begins to warm, bird activity starts to spike, as more birds begin to wake from slumber and start looking for food. Peak bird activity is generally around 0800 – 0830. After this, birds stop singing and they feed silently whilst raptors start peering. Asian Red-eyed Bulbul at Jelutong Tower Occasionally, we found one or two Chestnut-bellied Malkohas foraging quietly high up in the trees. Their presence was often revealed by the chattering of smaller birds that followed along, waiting for the large and clumsy Malkohas to flush insects out of hiding. Some birds like the Greater Racket-tailed Drongos even tried to steal food right from the Malkohas beaks using their loud alarm calls as distraction. This phenomenon is known as a mixed species foraging flock, mixed flock or bird wave. Oftentimes, this will be the only source of bird activity after the dawn chorus. Chestnut-bellied malkoha looking for leaf insects Breeding season begins in late March, and birdsong is plentiful as birds attempt to impress potential mates and gather nesting materials. We remember when a pair of Asian Fairy-Bluebirds sent gushes of wind down our hair as they flew right over our heads, carrying tiny sticks and leaves to their incomplete nest. But activity is almost halved a month later, as birds are busy nesting and parenting, and only one parent can forage. Once all the juveniles fledge and fly in June, bird activity increases as the parents begin to bring the young to explore. Violet Cuckoo at Jelutong Tower 0900 was when the Violet Cuckoo began his rounds, looking for a mate. And after a year of searching since 21 December 2021, we finally got it on 5th February 2023! It was a long and tedious game of gamble and chance, but we’d say it was very worth it. We’re still missing the Black-headed Bulbul and await its return. Bird Activity The graph here shows the estimated amount of bird activity at Jelutong Tower, based on the number of species spotted by us. The amount of birds we get every trip varies, but follows similar trends. The sunrise greets us with plenty of birds, but the afternoon sees a large plateau in activity. For some reason,...