About

The Bird Group (BG) is a Special Interest Group of the Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS). The Group was inaugurated in 1986 when NSS was the Singapore Branch of the Malayan Nature Society. However, it was a transition from the former MNS Singapore Bird Study Group, which was active in the ’70s.

In 1991, the Nature Society (Singapore) emerged from MNS with the Bird Group firmly established to oversee the claims of birds being recorded in Singapore and publish the records in the ‘Singapore Avifauna’.

The Bird Group and the Conservation Committee submitted a proposal plan to the Singapore Government in 1987, in which Singapore’s first bird sanctuary, Sungei Buloh Nature Park, was officially opened in 1991.

Our Vision:

NSS Bird Group – the leading establishment in Singapore ornithology.

Our Mission:

  • To save every natural wildlife and bird habitat in Singapore.
  • Partnership in co-operation with international NGOs in efforts of global and regional bird conservation; as a partner of Birdlife International.
  • Promote birdwatching as a hobby and a healthy lifestyle to every Singaporean.

48 thoughts on “About”

  1. Marjorie Chong

    Hi there’s a very sweet bird call in Seletar that I’d like to identify. Can someone help? Pls provide email so I can send voice clip 🙂 Thks, Marjorie

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  2. Kyoko Yoshino

    Hi my name is Kyoko working for the Japanese TV. My client is planning to make a documentary focus on Taylor Bird. Beside of Sungei Buloh, where else can we find the bird when they are making their nest? can you please contact me? Thank you! Kyoko

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    1. Alan OwYong Post author

      Hi Kyoko Yoshino-san. Thank you for your email. We have 4 species of tailorbirds in Singapore.
      The one at Sungei Buloh is the Ashy Tailorbird. The other three can be found in the secondary forest (Dark-necked), abandoned woodlands (Rufous-tailed) Parks and Gardens ( Common). The easiest to find is the Common Tailorbird. The problem is finding them at the start of the building process. Most of the time we get to see the completed nest with either eggs or chicks inside.

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  3. Keri

    Hi, I have a very loud knocking noise outside most nights in my neighbourhood – I’m sure it’s a night jar of sorts!
    Can I also send the clip to you Alan? I;ve been scouring the internet to try and identify this noisy bird!
    Keri

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    1. Alan OwYong Post author

      Hi Kerry.
      You are right. It is the call of the Large-tailed Nightjar, our most common nightjar here. They normally stop calling after a while. As they ear flying insects they are important to the ecosystem by keeping the population under control.

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  4. Julie

    Hi, I have spotted a raptor flying around the River Valley area the last 2 days, I have a couple of photographs but I can’t identify if it is a honey buzzard or a hawk, is there someone who would be able to do this?

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  5. bryxnj

    Hi, I am an architecture student and currently doing a project on Coney island at Punggol. My question isn’t directly about the birds but may I inquire your views on bird hides? What are some of the difficulties/ challenges you face with them? Do they work as functionally as you’d hope? Your kind feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you. Would love to hear more as well if you have any personal inputs.

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  6. Matt Nasir

    Hi there, i might have spotted two eagles at around my work. I could see the nest too. It is possible it might have been a white- bellied sea eagle jugding by the patterns of the wings. Sadly i don’t have a good camera to take photos of it. It will be great to hear it from you so i could let you know the exact location of where the nest and eagles are.

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      1. Matt Nasir

        Dont think I’ll be able to with a proper camera. The thing is there’s a new construction projects going on around the trees where the nest is so i reckon it most like need to be save before they clear the trees in future. Its close to the road at Woodleigh link. The new development project area.

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  7. Mazuni Abd Rahman

    Dear Sir/Madam, I am seeking your help to contact bird photographer Ting Wei Hung. What is his email address? thank you.

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  8. snow

    Hi, my brother found a bird nest with unhatched eggs inside yesterday. Could you kindly advise which organisation to inform to possibly collect the eggs?

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    1. Alan OwYong Post author

      You can try and call the jurong bird park. Not sure if they will collect if it is a common species. Best is to secure it back on a tree where you found it. Sometimes the parent bird will come back

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  9. Czm

    Hi, i recently spotted what i think are two juvenile raptors (white bellied sea eagle?) in a car park next to the sungei ulu pandan park connector. I know there is a resident raptor( near the sbs bus depot) that lives in the park connector near which is popular with bird enthusiasts. Recently there have been massive works to lay a new park connector which seems to have reduced the amount of parkland and may have impacted the resident bird and its usual roosting. I have been observing our carpark birds for some years and this is the first time seeing the raptors here. Our town council prunes the trees really aggressively so I hope it wont affect the birds. Is there anyone i can email?

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    1. Alan OwYong Post author

      Hi Czm, thanks for your note. Yes the pair of Grey-headed Fish Eagles had been living off the fishes at this canal for more than a decade now. The White-bellied Sea Eagles do visit the canal quite frequently. Brahminy Kite have been stealing fishes from the otters there as well. The Changeable Hawk Eagles were nesting in the forest where the bus depot is now. So far we have recorded more than 80 bird species along this canal. So it is a great place for birders and photographers to spend their time here. The residents of Faber Crest and the Nature Society have been in discussions with NParks on how best to build the park connector with minimum disturbance to the bird life there. You can email me at alan.owyong@gmail.com.

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  10. Ruth

    Hi
    I visited Singapore in late December of last year and am only now going through the photographs I took there because life gets in the way. I visted Sungei Buloh on the 26th December, 2018 and viewed a Tringa sp feeding in the marsh from the tower. Viewing my photographs, it appears to be a Spotted Redshank, a species I’m not too familiar with as I’m based in Canada. I’ve updated my Ebird report with photographs and now only realize how rare they are in Singapore. I realize this report is very late and useless for local birders to go and twitch but I thought it would be a good idea to report the sighting. However, I can’t seem to find any place to submit rare bird sightings for review by the local committee.

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  11. Anushka Muthutantri

    Hello!

    I live in Bedok Reservoir and can identify several species here in the east. I would love to contribute to sightings if that’s possible.

    Over the month of August at BR I’ve seen woodpeckers, ioras, munias, goshawks, fantail flycatchers, terns, our resident nightjars, flower peckers, Brahminy kites, WBSE and what was possibly a wagtail through it was too dark to identify.

    Please let me know how.

    Thank you.
    Anushka

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    1. Alan OwYong Post author

      Dear Anushka, we have a fb group Singapore Birders where you can make a request to join. As a member you can post your bird sightings there. Do read the conditions as well when posting.

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  12. Simon Lim

    Hi,

    I am a total noob on identifying birds. I have been seeing 2 raptor/eagle like birds flying outside my balcony for the past few years. Its only few days ago that I managed to take a few snapshots of them. It seems there are 4 of them now.

    I have always wondered what do they hunt/eat. Today, I zoomed in on some of the shots I took. Frogs! There are Abundance of them along east coast park.

    Please help to identify the birds. I will post the images to my Flickr account.

    Thanks
    Simon

    Common Kingfisher - Hong Kong - Olympus OM-1 + Olympus 150-400mm f4.5 pro

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    1. Alan OwYong Post author

      Hi Simon, you can join Singapore Raptors fb group and post your photos there for id. Your photos are oriental Honey buzzard, brahminy kite, brahminy kite, changeable hawk eagle, brahminy kite and OHB.

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      1. Simon Lim

        Thank you. I will go visit the Facebook page. Will try to get better photos. They appear almost the same time everyday.

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  13. David Jones

    Hello,
    I have this week twice seen a warbler at Satay by the Bay which looks much like a BOOTED WARBLER. How likely is this considering how rare they are ? ( There are also Black-browed Reed Warblers around at the same time) Thanks.

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  15. Nanor

    Hello, over the past week or so, I’ve spotted a large owl with a light coloured abdomen and dark brown back and wings. It was dark and I was not close enough to see its eyes and beak clearly. However, I did spot the tufts in profile and they were pointing straight up. I thought that it might have been an eagle owl, but given the tufts’ positioning, I’m now less sure. Could it have been a horned owl? Also, I’ve seen what looks like possibly a hawk owl at night, but was wondering whether someone could confirm. It was smallish with lovely slender wings. And there were white spots at the tips of the wings and at the tip of the tail. Again, it was dark, so I couldn’t see much more than that. Any thoughts on whether it was a hawk owl?

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    1. Alan OwYong Post author

      Large owls with turfs are either barred Eagle owl or Buffy fish Owl. Where and when was the sighting. Any calls heard. We have only one brown hawk owl which is medium size.

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      1. Nanor

        Two weeks ago, NTU campus. I think, then, that it was a Buffy Fish Owl. But still unsure about the possibility of the hawk owl. The bird I saw had a distinctive large white spot at the tip of each of its wings as well as the on the tip of its tail.

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  16. Konrads Klints

    We spotted a white bellied sea eagle perched on a mobile mast around Newton. We think it lives somewhere here.

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  17. Nanor

    I saw a spotted wood owl on NTU campus a few days ago. Likely a resident there. Also two barred eagle owls, one smaller (probably juvenile), the other large, also on NTU campus last week. The big one attacked the juvenile, probably an interloper, they locked talons and then flew into the jungle around the campus perimeter.

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    1. Alan OwYong Post author

      Thanks Nanor, Yes the spotted wood Owls are our residents. The Barred Eagle Owls have never been recorded at NTU before. If it is with a juvenile then it will be the first site outside the Bukit Timah and Dairy Farm Areas. Do you have any photos of them.

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  18. Geraldine Low

    Hi, I think I saw a Grey-faced Buzzard in Newton area on 3 Aug. Can I post the photo somewhere so that it can be confirmed / identified? Thanks!

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  20. Nanor

    Does anyone know of any potentially aggressive owls or other nocturnal birds? I believe my husband may have seen a Brown Boobook at NTU tonight. It seemed to track him, flying behind him in short spurts. When he stopped to look at it, it flew straight at him and then up and away. It was relatively small, dark head/back/wings, white belly, white wings on the underside, a hawk-like shape, and a black curving feather at the tip of its wings. It made a kind of low grunting-like sound as it flew near. Sorry, no photos or other recordings. Any ideas as to what it might have been?

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  21. Leanne

    Hello, a bird flew into my house and stayed for 1.5 days. It’s very pretty and I would like to identify its breed. Black/brown, striking blue and orange. Anywhere that I can send a photo to? Thanks

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  22. Nanor

    Hello, I need help identifying a bird that I saw just a few minutes earlier today on the NTU campus. I saw it at arm’s length, so very clearly. It had just caught a small winged insect. It had about the same shape and beak of a sunbird, though slightly smaller. But it didn’t look like any sunbirds I know of, native or migrant in Singapore. Light-colored back, with a light yellow then orange throat. Haven’t found any images online matching what I saw. Any ideas?

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