The recent posting of the Southern Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) got a response from Steven Chong who wrote: “Spotted one roaming free some years back at West Coast Park (the carpark side with pond, next to dog run). Must have been an escapee?”
Steven was jogging then and did not have his camera with him. However, he got an image from Chan Kok Wai who saw it on the morning on 5th July 2003. The bird was on a grass patch along Rifle Range Road somewhere near PIE exit 26A, picking up insects (above left). It distinctly had a ring around its right leg (above right).
Summerian Turks commented that it might well have escaped from the Jurong BirdPark that is nearby West Coast Park and commented that it could it be “a free ranging escapee.” But then Kwok Wai saw it in Rifle Range Road. And the bird is a ground hornbill, fliing only when necessary.
Anybody else saw the escapee?
Images by Chan Kwok Wai.
southern ground hornbill
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