Juvenile hornbill perches on Toa Payoh coffeeshop table & flies into stall, possibly spotted again at nearby bus interchange

Juvenile hornbill surprises diners at Toa Payoh coffeeshop, allegedly chased out of stall with broom

A Toa Payoh coffeeshop had an unexpected diner last Friday (31 July) in the form of a juvenile hornbill resting on one of the tables.

After perching for a while, it allegedly flew into one of the food stalls before being chased out with a broom.

Juvenile hornbill flies onto Toa Payoh coffeeshop table

Mr Lester Wan told MS News that he was enjoying dinner at a coffeeshop in Toa Payoh Central on 31 July.

Slightly after 7pm, a hornbill suddenly flew in and landed on a table near him.

“There were a few exclamations of surprise and amusement from patrons, and a handful started taking photos,” he said.

Mr Wan was among the handful, snapping two photos which showed the hornbill perched on the edge of the table.

Given the highly undeveloped casque on its beak, netizens identified it as a juvenile. The post on Facebook garnered over 1,500 likes at press time.

Hornbill flies into steamed fish stall, chased out with broom

The young hornbill sat at the table for a while before allegedly heading straight into the coffeeshop’s steamed fish stall, shocking people it flew past.

Mr Wan told MS News that the stall employees remained calm and continued preparing orders. Shortly after, a woman took a broom to the stall and chased it out.

According to Mr Wan, the hornbill ended up flying off to the bicycles parked next to Toa Payoh Library instead.

Others humorously asked if the hornbill had the CDC vouchers to pay for the steamed fish.

Jokes aside, Mr Wan suspected that the juvenile might have gotten lost or disoriented. Nonetheless, he was pleasantly surprised at the close encounter.

Same hornbill possibly spotted at Toa Payoh Bus Interchange

At 8.28pm that same day, Facebook user Jafri Basron posted a photo showing a juvenile hornbill perched on a bollard at Toa Payoh Bus Interchange.

At the time of writing, the post garnered over 1,100 reactions, with netizens joking that it was going to take a bus home.

Given the relatively close proximity of the bus interchange to Toa Payoh Central, some suspected it to be the same hornbill Mr Wan had spotted.

Both seemed to have a blue ring around the eye, but Mr Wan could not confirm if it was the same bird. He suggested that the bus interchange hornbill may be from the same family.

MS News has reached out to Jafri Basron for more information.

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

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Featured image adapted from Lester J Wan on Facebook and Jafri Basron on Facebook.