Thank you for joining us at October Big Day 2026!

BirdSoc SG's second OBD event was held in 2026, with talks at Fort Canning Centre opened by Minister of State Alvin Tan before birders headed out to six sites across the island. Together the groups recorded 72 species, including Amur Paradise-Flycatchers, Tiger Shrikes and an Eastern Crowned Warbler.

October Big Day 2026 participants at Fort Canning Centre, before heading out to six birding sitesThank you to everyone who spent the afternoon with us this past Saturday, from lunch at Fort Canning Centre to birding at six sites across the island! Many more of you went out on your own and submitted checklists to eBird. Every one of those observations adds to the global picture of where birds are on a single day in October.Bird-themed activities before the programmeWe were honoured to be joined by Mr Alvin Tan, Minister of State for Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Development, whose portfolio includes urban planning, nature and biodiversity, and animal welfare. Thank you, Minister, for your kind words of support to open the afternoon.Minister of State Alvin Tan giving the opening remarksNaufal from NParks also shared some of the community programmes that NParks runs, including its nature watches.TalksFour of our members then gave short talks on birding and citizen science:Raghav Narayanswamy opened with an introduction to eBird and how our checklists help science, as BirdSoc SG enters its second year as eBird’s country partner for Singapore.Guo Yichen, a research assistant at the Avian Evolution Lab at NUS, spoke on “Thinking like a Birder”.Thongthornpatch Chamadol (Pluem), a data science and AI student at NTU, asked “Why should we care about eBird data?”Collin Chua, a bird researcher, tackled “Why is Birding so Hard?”Raghav introducing the event and our partnership with eBirdGuo Yichen presented "How to think like a birder"Pluem on why eBird data mattersCollin Chua on why birding is so hardThe talks were followed by a lively Q&A, with plenty of questions from the floor on everything from what makes a good eBird checklist to telling apart our trickiest look-alike species.Q&A with our speakersBy the numbersBetween them, our six groups recorded 72 species in two hours of afternoon birding:Jurong Lake Gardens: 28 speciesSingapore Botanic Gardens: 33 speciesBishan-Ang Mo Kio Park: 24 speciesBidadari Park: 23 speciesThomson Nature Park: 23 speciesFort Canning Park: 21 speciesAcross the whole island, eBird shows 176 checklists from 152 contributors, with 151 species recorded in Singapore on 10 October.HighlightsEarly October brings the first proper wave of migrants. Arctic Warblers turned up at every one of the six sites. Amur Paradise-Flycatchers were seen at Bidadari and Thomson Nature Park, and Yellow-rumped Flycatchers at Bidadari, the Botanic Gardens, and Jurong Lake Gardens. Tiger Shrikes were at both Bidadari and Fort Canning, and Brown Shrikes at Jurong Lake Gardens and Bishan-AMK.Elsewhere on the island, birders out on their own had a great day too. Highlights included a Fairy Pitta at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, an Asian Dowitcher at Sungei Buloh, an Aleutian Tern off Tanah Merah. The first signs of raptor migration are starting too, with a Chinese Sparrowhawk over Mount Faber and a Japanese Sparrowhawk at Dairy Farm.Around the sitesBidadari ParkBishan-Ang Mo Kio ParkThe Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park groupFort Canning ParkJurong Lake GardensThe Jurong Lake Gardens groupThomson Nature ParkSingapore Botanic GardensThanksOur volunteers made this event possible, from scouting all six sites ahead of the day to leading the groups and running the programme at Fort Canning Centre. Thank you to our site leaders, youth volunteers, and speakers, to Jeff Tan for emceeing, and to the organising committee: Guo Yichen and Jeff Tan Kuan Yew (leads), Dillen Ng, Movin Nyanasengeran, Raghav Narayanswamy, and Sandra Chia. Thank you also to Lynn Tan, our lead designer, for this year’s illustrations and event shirts.Our volunteers and organising committeeOrganizing CommitteeGuo Yichen (lead)Jeff Tan Kuan Yew (lead)Dillen NgMovin NyanasengeranRaghav NarayanswamySandra ChiaDesignLynn TanWebRaghav NarayanswamyEvent photographyAdrian Silas TayIan LuSpeakersCollin ChuaGuo YichenJeff Tan Kuan Yew (emcee and moderator)Raghav NarayanswamyThongthornpatch Chamadol (Pluem)Site leaders and volunteersAdrian Silas TayCharlotte LimClarice YanCollin ChuaDillen NgFrancesca FaillaGoh Cheng TengGuo Cheng GuangGuo YichenIan LuJeff Tan Kuan YewKaeden SimKee Jing YingLee Wee MengLynn TanMayjean NievesMovin NyanasengeranRachel Tan Xuan EnRaghav NarayanswamyRaphael MoeyRichard WhiteSandra ChiaSng Chen XiThongthornpatch Chamadol (Pluem)Yip Jen WeiYong Le YuWe’d also like to thank our supporting organizations: the National Parks Board, A Rocha Singapore, and Mandai Nature, who supported us for the second year running.Wan Ting from NParksMelanie from A Rocha SingaporeDr Jessica Lee from Mandai NatureLastly, thank you to all our participants for spending a hazy Saturday afternoon counting birds with us and adding your observations to this global effort. Singapore once again punched well above its weight for such a small country.Looking aheadSee you at Raptor Watch, which will be held on 25 October, 1 November, and 8...