STOMPer Alyssa spotted this sporty bird catching the Youth Olympic Games while perched on the lamp post. She also said the bird looked intently from left to right and moves its head when the players miss a ball.
Says this STOMPer:
"This bird was caught sitting on a lamp post while I was waiting for the train in Yio Chu Kang.
"It kept looking right and left at the two mini tennis court. When one of the teams missed the mini tennis ball, the bird will move its head up and down.
"The bird did not fly away when the train came. I am glad that Singaporean birds are also supportive of YOG.
"Next time your train goes by Yio Chu Kang, remember to check out this cute bird. It sits there once in awhile."
And in other news, a feral pigeon (Columba livia) took a crap on someone's head.
In the first place, the inaugural Youth Olympic Games will take place only in August. What sort of fool looks at a casual tennis game and declares it to be a part of the Youth Olympic Games? I might as well point at the teenagers playing soccer at the school field near my house, and say that the match is part of the World Cup.
I once thought this post was one of the dumbest posts I'd ever seen on STOMP, but this one is a serious contender.
ED: Just noticed that the idiot who posted about the myna on the MRT track also went by the name of Alyssa. Should I be happy that such brain-numbing inanity appears to be limited to just one person?
Was at East Coast Park at 730am near Bedok Jetty when we heard a strange call. Upon investigating, we spotted the Greater Bird of Paradise (43cm) w our naked eyes and managed a few shots - see picture. Went back to the car to get the big camera but the bird had already flown into the grove of trees even after waiting around for it for 1/2 hr.
We checked - its a CITES II species - meaning that one requires an export licence but no import licence. Sad that these birds can still be traded legally. Glad that it has escaped!
A bird of paradise? In Singapore? What an unexpected surprise!
This bird was definitely an escapee. I wonder who might be owning and rearing birds of paradise here in Singapore.
The greater bird of paradise (Paradisaea apoda) is a native of the forests of southwest New Guinea and the nearby Aru Islands. Here's a nicer photograph of a male:
An export permit or re-export certificate issued by the Management Authority of the State of export or re-export is required.
An export permit may be issued only if the specimen was legally obtained and if the export will not be detrimental to the survival of the species.
A re-export certificate may be issued only if the specimen was imported in accordance with the Convention.
In the case of a live animal or plant, it must be prepared and shipped to minimize any risk of injury, damage to health or cruel treatment.
No import permit is needed unless required by national law.
As a signatory to CITES, Singapore has in place laws to regulate the trade in endangered species. According to the legislation, on top of the above criteria listed by CITES, an import permit is also necessary before a CITES-listed species can be brought into Singapore. You can find out more by reading all about the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act.
However, as stated in a reply to Gloria's message:
You're so lucky to see this bird, though not at the right habitat..Yes they are classified as App II of CITES which allows trade with the issuance of permits. However the catch is, Indonesia and PNG does not allow any export of the species. They are protected by domestic law in these range countries. So legal export is impossible, technically.
However over 150 individuals from the genus Paradisaea, Cicinnurus and Seleucidis have been imported here from the Solomon Islands and African countries like Liberia, Guinea and Ivory Coast in 2005. They were all declared as captive bred specimens. How far this is true we do not know. Its hard to imagine a war torn, famine stricken countries in Africa have the means and resources to breed these birds like bantam chickens. But they manage somehow, i guess. Wonders never cease..
So it seems that the legal status of birds of paradise in private collections in Singapore appears to be quite suspicious.
The birds of paradise consist of 40 or so species distributed in New Guinea, eastern Indonesia, northern Australia and surrounding islands. The males of many species are extremely colourful, and they are known for their extravagant displays, as can be seen from the next couple of video clips:
Quite a number of our non-native birds are present because of the trade in birds as pets. These include many species of parrot, some of which have become established locally, such as the Tanimbar corella (Cacatua goffiniana) and yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea), red-breasted parakeet (Psittacula alexandri) and rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri). There are breeding populations of non-native songbirds such as the sooty-headed bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster), red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus), white-crested laughingthrush (Garrulax leucolophus), hwamei (Garrulax canorus) and Japanese white-eye (Zosterops japonicus) in various parts of Singapore. As a hub for the exotic pet trade, both legal and illegal, it is not surprising that so many non-native species are popping up in Singapore. I can understand parrots and songbirds being sold and kept as pets, but it's truly amazing to hear of birds of paradise, hornbills and toucans being reared by private individuals.
The population of Oriental pied hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) seen around the forests and woodlands of the Central Catchment Area, Toa Payoh and Yio Chu Kang are possibly hybrids; among the original founders were a pair of escapees belonging to different subspecies, one belonging to the northern race (Anthracoceros albirostris albirostris) and the other belonging to the southern race (Anthracoceros albirostris convexus). So these hornbills are actually of captive origin, unlike those found in Pulau Ubin and Changi, which are descended from wild birds that flew over from Johor.
The lone female rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) and its former partner the female great hornbill (Buceros bicornis) that until recently used to fly around the Bukit Timah area are also ex-captives.
While the chances of most of these escapees breeding and establishing populations in Singapore are slim, one cannot discount the possibility that given certain conditions, successful breeding can occur. Escapees and exotic species certainly do add quite a fair bit of variety to our bird lists, but my greatest worry is whether all these introduced species will negatively impact our native birds.
Jurong Bird Park says the exotic bird which paid a visit to STOMPer Cheryl's house is a Toco Toucan.
Earlier, Cheryl had sent in photos and a video of an exotic bird perched on top of her garden wall, eating a papaya offered by her.
STOMP had sought Jurong Bird Park's help in identifying the species.
In an e-mail sent to STOMP today(21 Jan), Jurong Bird Park says:
"The bird in the picture is a Toco Toucan. Toco Toucan is the largest in the Toucan family and they originate from South America.
"It is easily distinguished by its broad and long beak which appears to be heavy but is actually lightweight because it is hollow and mainly made up of keratin."
The toco toucan (Ramphastos toco) is so unmistakable that getting the Jurong BirdPark to identify the bird is really quite superfluous in this case.
As mentioned, toucan bills are extremely lightweight, despite their massive size. Here's a website that describes the internal structure of the toucan's bill, and also discusses some possible technological applications.
Toucan beaks are built lightweight and strong thanks to a rigid foamy inside and layers of fibrous keratin tile outside.
The structure of the toucan beak teaches us principles of composite material design for light-weight strength and stiffness. Despite its large size (a third of the length of the bird) and considerable strength, the toucan beak comprises only one twentieth the bird's mass. While the large strong beak is useful in foraging, defense and attracting mates, its low density is essential for the toucan to retain its ability to fly. The beak's solid outer shell sandwiches within it a closed-cell, foam-like structure made of struts which, together with thin protein membranes, enclose variably shaped air spaces. The solid shell layer is built of overlapping, hexagonally-shaped thin plates of keratin protein held together by an organic glue. The internal closed-cell structural support is comprised of keratin fibers with greater mineralization, by calcium and other salts, than in either the membranes or the solid shell layers to increase hardness. The closed cell structure offers a more complex energy absorption capacity and resistance to compression than the bending deformation typical of open celled structures. The rotational deformation of cell walls, stretching of membranes, and the internal gas pressure all contribute to those features. There is a synergistic effect of the shell layer and foam-like interior elements that together gives it greater strength than the sum of the strengths of those individual parts. Material designs inspired by the structure of the toucan beak could offer the properties of low weight with high stiffness and strength, as well as good energy absorption capacity and insulation value, such as could be useful in developing crash resistance in vehicles without compromising fuel economy.
Even though hornbills are not closely related to toucans, they also possess these weight-saving adaptations. Here's a page with excellent photos showing how highly pneumatised the skulls of a toco toucan, rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) and helmeted hornbill (Buceros vigil) are.
Does this mean that we can call hornbills and toucans air-heads?
This exotic bird recently paid STOMPer Cheryl a visit. She says that the bird was not afraid of people and even came back again on a separate occasion.
The bird, which Cheryl suspects is a Hornbill, sat on the wall and seemed to be looking for food.
The STOMPer then offered the bird a slice of papaya which it ate up. It did not, however, eat the apple given to it the second time it came back.
Cheryl sent in some pictures and a video of the bird eating the papaya.
She says:
"I was washing my hands in the kitchen on January 8 in the afternoon and looked up when I heard a flutter of wings from the garden and was stunned, staring at the view in disbelief for a minute or two.
"A huge bird was sitting on top of the garden wall looking around most probably for food.
"I placed a papaya on the left side of the garden wall and it hopped over to eat it.
"It was not afraid of humans and let me and my mother got very close to take photos.
"It was huge, around the size of my dog, which is a Pomeranian.
"After the bird had eaten its fill, it flew off.
"However, my father informed me that it came back again on January 18. It just sat at the garden wall looking around.
"It did not eat the apple my father offered it and flew away shortly."
STOMP is currently contacting Jurong Bird Park for verification of the bird's species. Check back for more details.
The person who submitted this made an error in the identification; it's not a hornbill (F. Bucerotidae), but a toco toucan (Ramphastos toco). It is interesting to note that despite the great similarities in appearance, hornbills and toucans are actually not closely related at all.
Toucans (F. Ramphastidae) are restricted to Central and South America, so this particular individual is definitely an escapee. In any case, the toco toucan is one of the most iconic members of its family, and is commonly seen in captivity. I do have fond childhood memories of watching a toco toucan performing at the Jurong BirdPark, demonstrating its ability to catch a ping pong ball with its huge beak.
The person who submitted the most recent post did not give any clues as to where she is living, but it is certainly worth speculating if this is the very same toucan that appears to have been on the loose for more than 3 months.
