Good news birdwatchers. The Bird Society of Singapore’s updated Singapore Bird Database is now available to the public https://records.singaporebirds.com/about-us/. This database incorporates the Singapore Bird Checklist https://records.singaporebirds.com/checklist/ and the Singapore Bird Database https://records.singaporebirds.com/record/. With more than 1,000 records of over 160 species of rare birds, it is easy to use.
Should anyone encounter a rare bird, a colour photo that shows the bird’s identification features would be helpful. Otherwise, try to provide detailed descriptions and accurate sketches https://records.singaporebirds.com/forms/submit-record/.
Based on the Nature Society (Singapore) Bird Group Record Committee’s list that was started in the 1980s, the scientific names of all the birds have been updated and additional species added. Birds originally submitted as rare and possible new species have all been thoroughly checked to ensure that they are properly identified. This was done because there has never been a mandatory requirement of a colour photo as evidence when submitting rarities and possible new species of birds to the Bird Group Records Committee. Only a rough sketch and a short description of the bird are required as evidence. Based on these crude requirements, how accurate can the past identifications be? Even when colour photographs are available, the birds can be mis-identified.
Volker Konrad’s February 1990 encounter with a plover is a classic example. As he had a camera with him at that time, he managed to take a few colour photos of the plover. He submitted his sighting together with the photos to Lim Kim Seng who was then Chair of the Bird Group Records Committee. It took 7 long years before he was informed that the bird was a Long-billed Plover (Charadrius placidus). https://besgroup.org/2007/01/24/retraction-of-the-first-record-of-long-billed-plover-for-singapore/ Konrad then published his encounter with his newly identified plover (Konrad, 2005).
P. J. Leader, a Hong Kong based birder, came across the publication and successfully challenged the bird as a Kentish Plover (C. alexandrnius), not a Long-billed Plover (Leader, 2006). Subsequently the Records Committee agreed with the new identification, albeit 15 years after making the wrong identification https://besgroup.org/2007/01/24/retraction-of-the-first-record-of-long-billed-plover-for-singapore/ .
Around 2016, two individuals who were working with the Bird Group’s Records Committee later enrolled at the Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, one pursuing a Master of Science degree focused on evolutionary aspects of birds, and the other a Doctor of Philosophy degree investigating biogeographical influences on regional bird diversity. Their research enabled them to access various collections, including those at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, to study accessioned specimens relevant to their projects.
With such facilities available to them, the opportunity to review the Bird Group’s list of Singapore birds was too good to pass up. After all, they were well aware that rare birds are not easy to identify. On their own initiative, they took the opportunity to review the Bird Group’s Records Committee list of birds whenever they were free. Rectifying mis-identifications of rare birds would contribute to the quality and reliability of this list. They had also lined up a list of local and overseas ornithologists as advisors.
For five years the individuals worked quietly, checking for errors in the bird list. Then one day Tan Gim Cheong, Chair of the Bird Group Records Committee, got wind of what these individuals were doing. What happened next was that the entire pack of the group’s top dogs went berserk. They realised that once these errors were made public, they would lose face as well as their top dog status. This was why these indivuduals were immediately expelled from the Records Committee without any reasons given.
As these individuals were members of the Nature Society (Singapore), they approached the Hon. President Dr Shawn Lum to mediate. https://besgroup.org/2025/03/02/from-looking-at-birds-to-studying-birds-the-story-of-the-bird-ecology-study-group-2/. As usual, nothing happened and so in August 2023, they formed the Bird Society of Singapore https://besgroup.org/2023/12/11/bird-society-of-singapore-a-credible-alternative-to-the-nature-societys-bird-group/.
This new bird society, spearheaded by a team of young, passionate and savvy birdwatchers, has been steadily gaining traction among young Singaporeans since its formation. Each outing sees enthusiastic attendance, and the group’s websites consistently attract hundreds of visitors.
References:
Konrad, V. (2005). First record of Long-billed Plover Charadris placidus in Singapore. Forktail 21:181-182.
Leader, P.J. (2006). Comments on the purported first record of a Long-billed Plover for Singapore. BirdingASIA 6: 45-47.
