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A family in Woodlands recently found themselves playing host to some unexpected \u2014 and adorable \u2014 neighbours.<\/p>\n
After a pair of olive-backed sunbirds built a nest in a potted plant outside their HDB flat in June, the family spent over a month watching the birds raise two chicks, which eventually became so comfortable around humans that they were seen perching on residents’ fingers.<\/p>\n
In a Facebook post shared in the group Singapore Wildlife Sightings on Sunday (July 12), the homeowner, Qiu Fen Deng (transliterated), 55, wrote that the chicks had “officially fledged their nest and are exploring the neighbourhood”.<\/p>\n
“It’s been such a joy watching this little family build nest from June 4, [with the] first sighting of babies on July 4 [before they finally] fledged off on July 12,” he wrote.<\/p>\n
The 55-year-old aviation propulsion engineering supervisor told Lianhe Zaobao that the sunbird parents began building their nest on June 4 among the branches of a potted plant outside his flat.<\/p>\n
As the nest was located along the common corridor, Qiu and his family were careful not to disturb the birds. They closed their doors quietly and avoided opening their metal gate fully, as it would swing too close to the nest.<\/p>\n
About a month later, on July 4, the family heard chirping from the nest and realised two chicks had hatched.<\/p>\n
The parent birds were frequently seen flying back and forth to feed their young, though they appeared to have different parenting styles. The female was more patient, often staying at the nest for a little longer after feeding the chicks, while the male seemed more hurried, flying off soon after delivering food.<\/p>\n
As the chicks grew, they began taking short flights around the corridor and appeared unusually unafraid of people. One of the chicks even briefly landed on a neighbour’s young child’s head.<\/p>\n
At one point, one accidentally flew into the family’s flat. Qiu and his family carefully caught the chick and released it safely back outside.<\/p>\n
The feathered family soon became a hit with neighbours, many of whom stopped to admire the nest.<\/p>\n
The heartwarming sight also drew attention online after Qiu shared photos and videos of the birds on Facebook.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Several netizens praised the family for giving the sunbirds a safe space to raise their young, with one commenting that “the sunbirds are fortunate to have had such a wonderful host”.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another jokingly said Qiu could “consider them as part of your occupants”.<\/p>\n
Qiu believes the chicks may have grown accustomed to people because they had been raised along a busy HDB corridor, where they regularly saw residents passing by.<\/p>\n
The chicks eventually left the nest on July 12, marking the end of the family’s month-long experience with their feathered neighbours.<\/p>\n
In a Facebook update posted later that evening, Qiu shared that the mother bird had returned at about 6.45pm with the smaller chick, bringing it back to the nest for one last night.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on the experience, Qiu encouraged anyone who comes across wild birds nesting near their homes to admire them from a distance and allow nature to take its course.<\/p>\n
“Soar high, little ones! Be safe! Let your tiny wings bring on big dreams! My family will always welcome you back for nesting again,” Qiu wrote in his Facebook post.<\/p>\n
Singapore is home to seven species of sunbirds, the most common of which are the olive-backed sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis) and the brown-throated sunbird (Anthreptes malacensis).\u00a0<\/p>\n
These birds are generally monogamous, with both parents playing an active role in raising their young, according to NPark’s website.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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eriko.lim@asiaone.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n A family in Woodlands recently found themselves playing host to some unexpected \u2014 and adorable \u2014 neighbours. After a pair of olive-backed sunbirds built a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/68605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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