Singapore Bird Report – Aug 2020

Geoff Lim, Isabelle Lee.
Tan Gim Cheong (ed.)

August saw the influx of migratory shorebirds, as well as courtship dances by Great-billed Herons and the appearance of a Pied Bushchat.

On 6 August 2020, a Pied Bushchat, Saxicola caprata, was reported at Holland Green by Kwok Tuck Loong. The news brought a steady trickle of birders and photographers to look at the diminutive jet black bird with trimmings of white along its wing coverts.

The species is conspicuous by its absence in literature such as Wells (2009) on Malaysian birds, as well as global perspectives by Collar and Christie (2020), who noted that birds in the west of the species range are largely migratory. On the Indus plain, Pakistan, birds make local migrations and summer migration into warm dry mountain areas beginning in March and departing in September, Cold weather migration begins in September into NW India, while birds in Myanmar exhibit elevational migration, wintering in plains and breeding in hills. Applying Occam’s razor on the bird’s appearance outside the migratory season and lack of records in previous decades, it is therefore possible that the bird is an escapee.

This highlights the plight of Asian songbirds, as many species are trapped, shipped in unsavoury conditions and sold as pets.  In recent times, Eaton et al (2017) noted that small numbers of Pied Bushchats were sold in local bird shops. We are fortunate to have strict wildlife protection laws that protect our wild birds and urge readers to be alive to the possibility of poachers taking an active interest in our wild songbirds.

Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR) and Fringe Parks

Visitors to fringe parks around the CCNR reported a Chestnut-bellied Malkoha, Phaenicophaeus sumatranus, on 09 August 2020 at Old Upper Thomson (Lee Chin Pong), two Barred Eagle-Owl, Bubo sumatranus, on 18 August 2020 (Oliver Tan) and an Asian Emerald Dove Chalcophaps indica on 21 August 2020 (Kelvin Ng Cheng Kwan) Dairy Farm Nature Park, as well as a Banded Woodpecker, Chrysophlegma miniaceum, on 27 August 2020, at a Banded Bay Cuckoo, Cacomantis sonneratii, and Stork-billed Kingfisher, Pelargopsis capensis, on 28 August 2020 at Singapore Quarry (Ho Siew Mun).

Banded Bay Cuckoo at Singapore Quarry, taken on 28 Aug 2020 by Ho Siew Mun

Central Singapore

A White-rumped Shama, Copsychus malabaricus, was reported on 11 August 2020 at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park by Jimmy Lim. An Asian Openbill, Anastomus oscitans, was photographed at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park on 18 August 2020 by Steven Cheong.

Northern Singapore

The Halus wetland area yielded a single Little Grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis, on 8 August 2020 (Lim Kim Chuah), and two Black-throated Laughingthrush, Garrulax chinensis, an escapee species, on 12 August 2020 (Peter Bijlmakers). At the grassy fields around Piccadilly, Seletar, two King Quail, Excalfactoria chinensis,were spotted on 22 August 2020 by Oliver Tan.

Lesser Sand Plovers at Yishun Dam, taken on 9 Aug 2020 by Khoo Meilin

Observers at the Yishun Dam noted the return of the Lesser Sand Plover, Charadrius mongolus, on 9 and 11 August 2020 (Khoo Meilin and Desmond Yap, respectively). The Pacific Golden Plover, Pluvialis fulva, was subsequently noted on 21 August 2020.

At Woodlands Waterfront Park, Loh Wei photographed a Brown-streaked Flycatcher, Muscicapa williamsoni,  on 16 August 2020.

Eastern Singapore

Visitors to Pasir Ris Park reported seeing a Banded Bay Cuckoo, Cacomantis sonneratii, on 6 Aug 2020 (Terence Tan), a fledgling Plaintive Cuckoo, Cacomantis merulinus being fed by it host, an Ashy Tailorbird, Orthotomus ruficeps, on 10 August 2020 by Jonathan Kuahand the young Plaintive Cuckoo, Cacomantis merulinus again on30 August 2020 (Ho Siew Mun). Further afield, a Grey Wagtail, Motacilla cinerea, was reported on 27 August 2020 from Changi Business Park by Herman Phua.

Southern Singapore

Reports from the Gardens- and Satay-by-the-Bay park complex during the period included Lesser Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna javanica, on 15 August 2020, a female Laced Woodpecker, Picus vittatus, on 19 August 2020 at SBB, and a Little Bronze Cuckoo, Chrysococcyx minutillus, on 22 August 2020 (Ho Siew Mun).

The Bay area, comprising the waters off Marina Bay East and Marina Barrage, also attracted species such as a white morph Pacific Reef Heron, Egretta sacra, on 22 August 2020 (Norman Wu), Little Tern, Sternula albifrons, on 23 August 2020 and a Purple Heron, Ardea purpurea, on 24 August 2020 (both by Ho Siew Mun). A breeding attempt by a pair of Malaysian Plovers, Charadrius peronii, at Marina East failed as it seemed that heavy rain might have washed the egg down the rocky slope, damaging it (Lo Wai Mun, 13 August 2020).  

Further away at East Coast Park, a Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus, was reported on 26 August 2020 by Mike Hooper.

Western Singapore

The focal species at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (SBWR) were several displaying Great-billed Heron, Ardea sumatrana; about 3-4 birds were seen from Platform 2 on 9 August 2020 (Geoff Lim), and 5-6 on 23 August 2020 (Geoff Lim & Yong Ding Li) and 24 August 2020 (Terence Tan). Also spotted on those days were Lesser Adjutant, Leptoptilos javanicus; 3 were seen 23 August 2020 (Geoff Lim & Yong Ding Li) and six were counted on 24 August 2020 (Joseph Lim).

Two Great-billed Herons at SBWR, taken on 9 Aug 2020 by Geoff Lim

Also seen was a solitary Curlew Sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea, on 23 August 2020 by YK Han, and the resident Copper-throated Sunbird, Leptocoma calcostetha, on 30 and 31 August 2020 by Herman Phua and Ho Siew Mun.

At Jurong Eco Garden, a Blue-winged Pitta, Pitta moluccensis, was seen on 1 August 2020 by Andy Lee, and a fledgling Chestnut-bellied Malkoha, Phaenicophaeus sumatranus, on 19 August 2020 by Avadi L Parimalam. Asian Openbills were present at Neo Tiew area for much of the month, and the highest number was 53 birds on 10 August by Martti Siponen. On Jurong Island, two House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, were seen on 4 August 2020 by Lim Kim Chuah.

This report is compiled/written by Geoff Lim and Isabelle Lee and edited by Tan Gim Cheong. We are grateful for the birders and photographers whose postings in various Facebook birding pages, bird forums, individual reports and extracts from eBird make up this report. This compilation is not a complete list of birds recorded for the month and not all the records were verified.

Many thanks to Ho Siew Mun, Khoo Meilin, Herman Phua and Geoff Lim for allowing us to use their photographs.

REFERENCE

Collar, N. and D. A. Christie (2020). Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.piebus1.01

Eaton, J. A., Leupen, B. T. C., and Krishnasamy, K. (2017). Songsters of Singapore. An

Overview of the Bird Species in Singapore Pet Shops. TRAFFIC: Petaling Jaya. Accessed from https://www.traffic.org/site/assets/files/2278/songsters-of-singapore.pdf. 

Wells, D. R. (2009), The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 2. London: Christopher Helm.

House Sparrow

Eurasian Tree Sparrow at Satay by the Bay 16 Jan 2016. Photo: Lim Kim Chuah

Contributed by Lim Kim Chuah.

Most of us must be familiar with the ubiquitous Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus. These little brown birds are often seen picking scraps of food and leftovers in our hawker centers and neighbourhood coffee shops. Not known to many though, is the existence of a second species of sparrow in Singapore, the similar looking House Sparrow Passer domesticus.

Unlike the Eurasian Tree Sparrow, House Sparrow is sexually dimorphic.  The male House Sparrow wears a grey cap , not a chestnut cap as that in the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. It also has a large diffused black bib extending to the breast area and lacks the black ear coverts (patches) found in Eurasian Tree Sparrow. The female House Sparrow is mostly pale brown with a buffy supercilium and underparts.

House Sparrow Male taken at Pasir Panjang Warehouse on 30 March 2012

The first sighting of the House Sparrow in Singapore was reported at Jalan Kukoh off Chin Swee Road in 1995 (Terence Tan in litt 1995). Subsequently, a small population of up to 20 individuals was found breeding at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market in September 1997 by Dave Thompson, a visiting birder. He told Kenneth Kee of the find when they met at Sungei Buloh. How this flock of House Sparrow arrived here is a mystery. Some theorised that these House Sparrows might have been stowaways on board vessels calling on our ports. The wholesale center with its abundance of spilled grains and food would have been an ideal location for this species to colonise and eventually build a stronghold. However this population never grew large and it in fact declined over the years. Despite intense efforts to find the species here by Big Year birders in 2014, none were found.

House Sparrow taken in Thailand Jan 2015. Photo: Lim Kim Chuah

A second population of the House Sparrow has since been found in Singapore. I chanced upon one male on Jurong Island in 2002 not far from the island’s food court, Oasis. It’s puzzling why this species decided to inhabit in an island that is home to Singapore’s massive chemical and petrochemical industries although it may be possible that it faces less competition here from the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. In 2008, I was surprised to find birds nesting in eaves of the security guard house in another part of Jurong Island. Further surveys found more nests in eaves of warehouses and also in open spaces under the metal staircases outside buildings. I did a quick survey last year and estimated that there were probably not more than 12 pairs of nesting birds here.

Are there other populations of the House Sparrow in other parts of Singapore? Hope some of you reading this post will help find the answer.

References:

Lim, K.S. (2009). The Avifauna of Singapore. Nature Society (Singapore), Singapore.

Yong D.L., Lim, K.C. & Lee T.K. (2013). Birds of Singapore, John Beaufoy