About Us – Bird Society of Singapore

Mission

The Bird Society of Singapore is a science-based collective promoting research and conservation of our avifauna. Our approach focuses on widening interest in bird watching, deepening ties with like-minded organisations, and drawing on the collective expertise of our community. We are committed to advancing local and regional ornithological knowledge and promoting transparent record-sharing across the community. At the same time, we aim to build capacity in the community, empowering Singapore’s birdwatchers to contribute to research and conservation.

A White-throated Needletail, among the fastest flyers in the world. Only first seen in Singapore in 2008, and next seen in 2017, but with greater awareness of its migratory timing and identification features, there were a remarkable 27 records between 2019 and 2023.

Values

Transparency

We are committed to transparency regarding data availability and upholding their accuracy. Global biodiversity is in peril, and real-time sharing of data is a key pillar of any effective conservation strategy. By improving data access across our community, we give everyone the opportunity to use the data to deepen their own understanding, ultimately empowering them to contribute more meaningfully to research and conservation.

Inclusiveness

We strongly believe in engaging the community to connect to nature, cherish it, and eventually become its guardian. Diversity makes us stronger and drawing on our collective knowledge multiplies the impact of our individual efforts. Community participation is a cornerstone of each of our projects.

Relevance

We take great pride in our commitment to scientific principles. Our database and checklist are up-to-date, accurate, and always based on the latest information, to maintain the relevance of bird conservation and research today. At the same time, by staying strongly grounded in the local birdwatching and nature scene, we ensure our initiatives are in touch with the community’s goals and needs.

Council

The Council is comprised of the Executive Committee (ExCo), as well as the chairs of the four other Bird Society of Singapore Committees.

Movin Nyanasengeran

President

Having recently completed his PhD at the National University of Singapore, Movin continues to work on better understanding regional bird diversity and its relationship to biogeography and conservation. An avid birder and incorrigible extrovert he gains energy from the people around him, and is always happy to chat when found in the field.

Raghav Narayanswamy

Vice-President; Tech & Data Lead

Raghav leads development for BirdSoc SG’s signature web-based projects, including the Singapore Bird Database and the Birds of Singapore website. He is currently an undergraduate at NTU studying Computer Science and plays a key role in BirdSoc SG’s data-driven work to find hidden patterns and trends in local avian records.

Goh Cheng Teng

Treasurer

Cheng Teng started photographing birds and wildlife in 2009 and honed his birding fieldcraft chasing garden birds and rarities all over Singapore. He spends his birding time photographing animal behaviour, capturing fleeting moments not easily observed, with environmental cues and eye contact to draw the viewer into the photograph.

Adrian Silas Tay

Secretary

Silas is primarily a weekend birder who started off as an enthusiast bird photographer more than a decade ago, although his interest in wildlife stretches back even further. He has actively contributed to the local birding scene by being an advocate of open and timely sharing of sightings to benefit the community.

Zachary Chong

Outreach Officer

In taking a more casual approach to birdwatching, Zachary’s key interests lie in re-appreciating the common birds around him and observing them as they go about their day-to-day lives! He also has a growing interest in other tiny insects as of late, and he may be seen squatting in peculiar positions to snap pictures of them.

Collin Chua

ExCo Member

Collin is an aspiring naturalist who stumbled upon birdwatching in 2019. Since then, his appreciation and curiosity for birds have grown steadily. He is passionate about deepening his knowledge of avifauna, and hopes to share what he discovers with others.

Kee Jing Ying

Vice-Secretary

Jing Ying is currently a Strategy Consultant and casually birding. Her interest in birds started with a Collared Kingfisher. She finds it really interesting how migratory birds land in the most random places, and loves hearing the stories of people she meets when (occasionally) twitching birds.

Keita Sin

Founding President; Chair, Records Committee

Keita has been chasing feathered animals since 2014. He is deeply interested in various avian-related research and cares about sharing such knowledge with the community.

Dillen Ng

Chair, Research Committee

Dillen has been searching high and low for birds since 2016 and likes to keep lists of everything that he sees. He is constantly filled with questions on things that he doesn’t understand about birds and hopes to be part of the bridge translating knowledge gained from research into practical applications around us.

Sandra Chia

Chair, Welfare Committee

Sandra is an excitable birdwatcher who started watching birds in 2015. All birds are great to her and she has an interest in developing dynamic communities around common interests, birdwatching being one of them. An avid regional birder, it will not be unusual for one to find Sandra in a forest patch in a remote part of the world.

Sng Chen Xi

Chair, Media Committee

Chen Xi started birdwatching at the end of 2022 and has since been blessed with many opportunities to explore her interest in birds both as a research topic in the National University of Singapore and as a hobby. She enjoys learning random fun facts about birds and hopes to share her passion with the community through the Bird Society of Singapore.

History

The Bird Society of Singapore was officially recognised on 28 March 2023.

Our journey began in January 2016 as the Singapore Birds Project. The first aim of the project, then led by Francis Yap and See Toh Yew Wai, was to compile information and quality photos of each of Singapore’s birds: a free ‘guidebook’ for the web. It would answer the new birder’s first natural questions: Which birds are common, and which are rare? How do I tell a Japanese Sparrowhawk from a Chinese Sparrowhawk? Where can I find an Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher? Articles to aid birders, featuring content such as birdwatching tips, were also published to supplement these species accounts. The website, at singaporebirds.com, gradually grew in the following years as more information was added to the site.

An Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher. A favourite bird of many bird photographers, but unfortunately also a frequent victim of collisions with glass buildings.

The popularity of birdwatching in Singapore grew, too, and the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it new highs in the number of birdwatchers. Some of the remarkable avian discoveries of the pandemic years have not been matched in any other period of Singapore’s recorded history.

While continuing to update this resource, now named the Birds of Singapore, our focus has evolved into a deeper documentation of our birds. This includes studying their trends and seasonality, as well as maintaining a database of rare bird records. The Singapore Bird Database, which we started in 2021, is the only complete repository of rare birds in Singapore. The approach of transparent data-sharing is beneficial for birdwatchers who want to find these rare birds, but even more importantly, it is useful for research and conservation.

In tandem with our online work, we also ramped up our community outreach efforts through walks, talks and booths, organised both independently and in collaboration with partners. By attending conferences and publishing peer-reviewed scientific papers, we have made contributions to regional ornithological knowledge.

The combination of our evolving online resources and tangible work prompted our 17 founding members to officially register as a Society. This will enable us to widen our reach and impact both nationally and regionally.

The increasing awareness of nature, especially among youths, is an encouraging sign for the future. We aim to build on that curiosity to advance the conservation of Singapore’s birds for many years to come.