The Flying Saucer At Sunset

Lenticular clouds (Altocumulus lenticularis) are stationary lens-shaped clouds with a smooth layered appearance that form in the troposphere, usually above mountain ranges. One was spotted in Singapore recently...

Eyes Of 30,000 Honeycombs

With 30,000 individual facets, dragonflies have the most number of facets among insects. Each facet, or ommatidia, creates its own image, and the dragonfly brain has eight pairs of descending visual neurons to compile those thousands of images into one picture...

A Kaleidoscope Of Colours, Shapes And Patterns

Spectacular and innovative in design, the Flower Dome replicates the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean regions like South Africa, California and parts of Spain and Italy. Home to a collection of plants from deserts all over the world, it showcases the adaptations of plants to arid environments...

Lightning Strikes, Not Once, But Many Times

Unlike light, lightning does not travel in a straight line. Instead, it has many branches. These other branches flashed at the same time as the main strike. The branches are actually the step leaders that were connected to the leader that made it to its target...

Are You My Dinner Tonight?

A T-Rex has 24-26 teeth on its upper jaw and 24 more on its lower jaw. Juveniles have small, sharp blade-shaped teeth to cut flesh, whereas adults have huge, blunt, rounded teeth for crushing bones. Is the T-Rex a bone-crushing scavenger?

Uniquely Singapore Birds

Jurong Bird Park
Jurong Hill
West, Singapore
23 November 2013

In a tribute to native birds, Jurong Bird Park, Asia’s largest bird sanctuary, celebrated its inaugural Native Birds’ Day on 23 and 24 November 2013.


Through a host of interesting activities, the event raised awareness on the importance of protecting of "Uniquely Singapore" birds endemic to this island country.


Native Birds’ Forum

An expert forum, helmed by Wildlife Reserves Singapore, NParks, Nature Society Singapore (NSS) and a veteran photojournalist presented the status of native birds and the ongoing conservation efforts by importance of these beautiful birds in our ecosystem. Speakers enthusiastically shared their passion and stewardship protection for native birds through personal anecdotes.

Topics include the photography of birds in "Birds in Action", "Common Sunbirds of Singapore", "Birds of Sungei Buloh" and "Local & Regional Conservation Projects".

 
 

NSS has two apps for nature lovers - one on birds and one on butterflies. Both are downloadable for iPhones and iPads to help in the identification and tracking of these...

 Where the migratory birds are most easily spotted in Sungei Buloh...

 NParks tags birds found in SBWR and how you can help spot and track migratory birds...

More and more sunbirds are found to change their feeding patterns by visiting plants found in aerial gardens in HDB flats. Here's how you can find one in your corridor...

Photography Trail

Wildlife photographer David Tan brought shutterbugs on a photography trail around the Bird Park, sharing tips and stories along the way.

While waiting, this Stork-Billed Kingfisher decided to make its presence known with its loud calls atop the pirate ship at Penguin Coast...

Starting out... And all armed with DSLRs!

"No need to take the whole bird, just focus on one part," he said...

Photography Exhibition

Photographs of native birds were featured in a photography exhibition at Penguin Coast. Picture-perfect moments, such as a White-Bellied Sea Eagle in mid-flight and a Oriental Pied Hornbill feeding its chick, are encapsulated within these frames.


Education Awareness Booth

A plethora of entertaining and enriching activities available for children was available at the Education Awareness Booth. Colour a bird on a sheet of paper, or if you are game enough, your own face could be the canvas for our friendly face-painters. A few of our local bird specimens, such as a hornbill casque, will be on display as well.

Face and hand-painting with animal stripes and spots...

Almost-real specimens of stuffed birds of prey...

 "Do you know why owls can fly so silently?"

"It's because of these feathers," she explained and sifted her fingers through the feathers...

Show Segment

A special 15 minutes show segment was presented by Otto, the yellow-naped Amazon, who sang the entire line of “I left my heart in San Francisco”. Children were able to try mimicking the bird in a mini-mimicry contest with the winner walking home with a token. A short photography session with the bird was also conducted.



More photos are available on Merlion Wayfarer Goes Green's Picasa at :
Places - Bird Park