While birds are a common sight in Singapore, most of us just tend to see mynahs, pigeons, and sparrows.
However, for one man, his morning commute was recently made a little more interesting thanks to a decidedly rarer feathery group of creatures.
He had spotted a trio of hornbills perched atop a street sign in Bedok and quickly shared a photo on Facebook.
Source: Liwei Jonathan on Facebook
His post was a hit with nature lovers and has garnered over 4,000 ‘likes’ and ‘hearts’ at the time of writing.
On Monday (10 July), Facebook user Jonathan shared an image of three hornbills on a sign indicating Bedok North Street 4 in the Singapore Wildlife Sightings group.
The picture features two adult hornbills with a seemingly younger one, which sports a fluffy ‘mohawk’ that hints at its young age.
Source: Facebook
The one on the right appears to have a half-eaten lizard in its beak, likely a fresh catch for breakfast.
Speaking to MS News, Mr Jonathan shared that he noticed the hornbills at around 8am that morning while heading to the bus stop near Block 85.
He first saw one of them on a nearby tree before they all assembled on the street sign.
Image courtesy of Jonathan LiWei
He also saw the hornbill on the right as it was catching the lizard, but he did not manage to snap a photo of the action.
Image courtesy of Jonathan LiWei
Upon seeing this nature documentary scene in person, Mr Jonathan’s first thought was, “It’s such a super rare sight to have not one, but three hornbills stationed directly on the street sign.”
He also quipped, “Maybe they were hungry and were heading to Bedok 85 Market as well.”
After snapping the photos, Mr Jonathan decided to post the shot of the hornbills on the street sign in the Facebook group.
He wasn’t expecting it to go viral, with over 4,200 reactions, 125 comments, and 176 shares and counting.
Many noted how special the sighting was and thanked Mr Jonathan for sharing it.
Source: Facebook
One commenter cracked a joke about how one of the birds was also on its way to the “office with takeaway”, aka the lizard.
Source: Facebook
Several users also put up their own photos of hornbills in the comments, although it’s unclear if they’re the same ones that Mr Jonathan sighted.
Source: Facebook
Based on the pictures, these appear to be Oriental Pied Hornbills, which are commonly found in Pulau Ubin and sometimes Changi.
Pictures like these remind us that even in a concrete jungle like Singapore, wildlife can still thrive.
Perhaps one of us might be lucky enough to spot the hornbill family in person next.
If you do, remember to snap a photo and share it online for everyone to coo over.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Liwei Jonathan on Facebook.
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