Man sees three birds collide into bus stop along Dairy Farm Road
Soon after finding a dead bird at a bus stop, a man witnessed three more birds colliding into its clear panels.
The avian casualties occurred at bus stop 43899 along Dairy Farm Road on 9 Nov, said Mr Jimmy Tan in a Facebook post the next day.
Source: natureandus.wordpress.com
Man finds bird lying on ground next to bus stop
Mr Tan said he was cycling in the area at about 8am when he saw the pink-necked green pigeon lying on the ground with its eyes closed.
Source: Jimmy Tan on Facebook
It lay near the bus stop, which had clear panels across its back.
Source: Jimmy Tan on Facebook
He inspected the bird and found that it was not breathing, but also had no sign of decomposition. Its body was intact and free from external injuries.
Source: Jimmy Tan on Facebook
Thus, he concluded that it had just died and decided to report this to a hotline operated by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LCKNHM) for dead bird reports.
He moved the male pigeon’s carcass to a grass patch behind for a volunteer to collect.
Source: Jimmy Tan on Facebook
Three more birds collide into Dairy Farm bus stop
Just as Mr Tan was making his report, he heard loud thuds and saw three more birds colliding into the clear panels of the bus stop, he said.
The three Asian glossy starlings fell to the ground, dazed.
Source: Jimmy Tan on Facebook
While two of them flew away within minutes, the third one lay on the ground, opening and closing its eyes periodically.
Source: Jimmy Tan on Facebook
It stood up after about five minutes, but appeared injured, so he moved it to a raised platform.
Source: Jimmy Tan on Facebook
He called the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) for help, but later told them that the starling had recovered and flown away.
Student finds another dead bird at bus stop
Later that afternoon, LCKNHM told Mr Tan that the dead pigeon was collected by their student volunteer.
Additionally, the volunteer found another pink-necked green pigeon nearby, this time a female.
Source: Jimmy Tan on Facebook
This bird appeared to have died before the male pigeon, as its carcass was infested with maggots.
LCKNHM estimated that it had died a day before — that means at least two birds had died at the bus stop in the last 24 hours.
Man reports bird collisions to authorities
Mr Tan pinpointed the clear panels of the bus stop as being to blame for the “flurry” of bird crashes.
He noticed that the panels had smudges and stain marks with bits of bird feathers and partially digested fruit remains, suggesting that those were the points of impact.
Source: Jimmy Tan on Facebook
In a blog post, he said he also found the fruit remains on the ground behind the bus stop, and suggested that birds might have vomited them out after the collisions.
Source: Jimmy Tan on Facebook
He reported the bird collisions to the authorities on 10 Nov, hoping appropriate measures would be implemented to prevent further incidents.
Source: Jimmy Tan on Facebook
This is especially since the bus stop is in a high biodiversity area bordering the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, and many native birds are in danger of being injured and killed, he said.
Clear panels replaced
In an update on his blog, Mr Tan said his report might have worked.
On Saturday (15 Nov) evening, he noticed that some of the clear panels of the bus stop had been replaced with translucent dotted patterns.
Source: natureandus.wordpress.com
Other panels had apparently been earmarked for similar treatment.
Source: natureandus.wordpress.com
He said he was glad to see this, noting that at least three of the four bus stops along Dairy Farm Road had stain marks on their clear panels, suggesting previous bird collisions.
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Featured image adapted from Jimmy Tan on Facebook.
