‘The bird whisperer’: Man minding his own business at Changi Beach bench surrounded by 5 hornbills & crow

Flock of hornbills & crow joins man at Changi Beach bench, photographer suspects others fed the birds previously

A man enjoying his alone time at a bench along Changi Beach ended up being joined by a flock of hornbills and a crow.

Netizens jokingly called him a “bird whisperer” for attracting the birds without even trying.

Man ignores 10 hornbills crowding on bench and flying around him

Tekko Koh, a retiree, told MS News that he came across this Disney-esque scene at around 6.30pm on 21 July.

Mr Koh noted that the man was minding his own business when he saw hornbills flying to the bench and crowding around the man.

“The man was looking at his phone and ignoring them,” he said.

In the photo shared on the Facebook wildlife group, several plastic bags and a can of beer can be seen on the table.

Two hornbills stared at the man from the other end of the table, while another two “sat” opposite him.

Lastly, a fifth hornbill and a crow lingered around on the ground.

The scene had a netizen jokingly labelling the man as “the bird whisperer”.

Mr Koh said there were even more flying around outside of the shot.

“I counted more than 10, with four to five of them at the bench at any time,” he claimed.

Netizens accuse man of illegally feeding birds

The photo gained over 2,800 reactions on Facebook at press time.

Some netizens suspected that the man illegally fed the birds, thus gaining their favour.

However, Mr Koh said that for the 10 minutes he was there, he did not see the man feeding the birds.

Instead, he suspected that the birds may have been conditioned to associate people as a reliable source of food.

I believe the [hornbills] are used to being fed by humans, hence they stopped at the bench when they saw the man with plastic bags on the table.

Other wildlife enthusiasts joked that the birds were actually after the beer.

Another said that the hornbills worked for the National Environment Agency (NEA), adding that they were merely making sure he disposed of the rubbish.

Also read: Hornbill lands on table beside diner at Changi Village Hawker Centre, close-up shot awes netizens

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Featured image adapted from Tekko Koh on Facebook and courtesy of Tekko Koh.