Birdland
Today I went to the Jurong Bird Park, which has gotten recommendations from a few people I’ve talked to. The easiest way to get there is by taxi. The driver was playing the radio, tuned to a station with old American hits. I mention this because of the wonderful serendipity that the song “Birdland” came on just as we pulled into the Bird Park! :-) We shared a laugh about that.
Unfortunately, I discovered on arrival that I had just missed the morning editions of both the Birds of Prey and All-Star Bird shows. This park has various zoo-like exhibits as well as shows with trained birds. But there were many other events to see.
I started out in the “World of Darkness” exhibit, which features owls and other creatures of the night. The place is kept in darkness during the day so they are not just sleeping all the time, as often happens in zoos. The snowy owls were gorgeous!
Then I went to the hornbill and toucan section because they had a “hornbill chitchat” event (once/day, so don’t miss it). This turned out to be fairly casual—a handler brought out some hornbills and allowed people to have a bird sit on their arm. An Indian woman was there with her daughter, and needed someone to take their picture, so I swapped with them and got a picture of me with the hornbill too.
I was quite taken with the hornbills. They are large, majestic birds with curious eyes, pretty patterns, and a thing called a casque on their bill. It looks heavy, but is actually hollow and quite light. They live in Southeast Asia and some parts of Southern India. The mating is pretty interesting: The female seals herself in a tree hollow, filling in the opening with leaves and feces. The only space left is a narrow slit through which the male feeds her until the eggs hatch and the chicks are ready to fly. Be careful standing under the nest — there is no bathroom inside, so they get good at ejecting waste out through the slit!
There were several nice aviaries, too. One featured birds of paradise with all the wonderful colored plumage, and another focused on birds of Southeast Asia. One was filled with a zillion parrots, and you could buy a cup of fruit slush to feed them. They would come and perch all over you while you did it. A little girl near me was startled when the birds landed on her, and dropped her cup of food. A feeding frenzy started as a crowd of birds rushed in to get some. She was delighted, actually, not upset. After she left, I picked up the cup with a bit of fruit left in it and managed to attract a few parrots to my shoulder. They were cute.
Another aviary held a huge waterfall — 100 feet tall, and entirely human-made. Many types of forest bird were inside, including starlings, bee-eaters, and some large, spotted black birds that resembled peahens. I was there for the feeding of the starlings and bee-eaters, who apparently like mealworms and live beetles. Another feeding frenzy.
I also saw flamingoes, pelicans, storks, eagles, kites, ostriches, and cassowaries. There is even a penguin house! Eventually I was there long enough to catch the next showing of the All-Star Birdshow, which was pretty much like the bird shows you’d see in the US. I didn’t stay for the next Birds of Prey show, which was perhaps too bad, but I did see one of the eagles getting some training as I stopped by the show arena. There was an interesting exhibit on falconry, about which I know essentially nothing. Apparently the Egyptians were doing falconry as early as several centuries BC, and it has also been a tradition in the Middle East, Europe, and Japan.
It turned out to be just as well that I was pooped out and left in the mid-afternoon (it was 86 degrees!) — as soon as I got back to my hotel, it started pouring rain. I had intended to go to the Night Safari Park this evening, but the weather just doesn’t look promising. Apparently it’s a neat place because all the nocturnal creatures that are usually asleep at the zoo — like the big cats — are out and active at night. Maybe I can go tomorrow.
(In fact, as I write this, there is a spectacular lighting show going on outside my window. Wow! Serious weather tonight).
Some of the birds looked unhappy to be confined. For creatures used to free flight in three dimensions, cages may be especially cruel. It seems that only humans like to tie their fellow creatures up and gawk at them. It is, in my opinion, something of a quest to understand ourselves.
Unfortunately, I discovered on arrival that I had just missed the morning editions of both the Birds of Prey and All-Star Bird shows. This park has various zoo-like exhibits as well as shows with trained birds. But there were many other events to see.
I started out in the “World of Darkness” exhibit, which features owls and other creatures of the night. The place is kept in darkness during the day so they are not just sleeping all the time, as often happens in zoos. The snowy owls were gorgeous!
Then I went to the hornbill and toucan section because they had a “hornbill chitchat” event (once/day, so don’t miss it). This turned out to be fairly casual—a handler brought out some hornbills and allowed people to have a bird sit on their arm. An Indian woman was there with her daughter, and needed someone to take their picture, so I swapped with them and got a picture of me with the hornbill too.
I was quite taken with the hornbills. They are large, majestic birds with curious eyes, pretty patterns, and a thing called a casque on their bill. It looks heavy, but is actually hollow and quite light. They live in Southeast Asia and some parts of Southern India. The mating is pretty interesting: The female seals herself in a tree hollow, filling in the opening with leaves and feces. The only space left is a narrow slit through which the male feeds her until the eggs hatch and the chicks are ready to fly. Be careful standing under the nest — there is no bathroom inside, so they get good at ejecting waste out through the slit!
There were several nice aviaries, too. One featured birds of paradise with all the wonderful colored plumage, and another focused on birds of Southeast Asia. One was filled with a zillion parrots, and you could buy a cup of fruit slush to feed them. They would come and perch all over you while you did it. A little girl near me was startled when the birds landed on her, and dropped her cup of food. A feeding frenzy started as a crowd of birds rushed in to get some. She was delighted, actually, not upset. After she left, I picked up the cup with a bit of fruit left in it and managed to attract a few parrots to my shoulder. They were cute.
Another aviary held a huge waterfall — 100 feet tall, and entirely human-made. Many types of forest bird were inside, including starlings, bee-eaters, and some large, spotted black birds that resembled peahens. I was there for the feeding of the starlings and bee-eaters, who apparently like mealworms and live beetles. Another feeding frenzy.
I also saw flamingoes, pelicans, storks, eagles, kites, ostriches, and cassowaries. There is even a penguin house! Eventually I was there long enough to catch the next showing of the All-Star Birdshow, which was pretty much like the bird shows you’d see in the US. I didn’t stay for the next Birds of Prey show, which was perhaps too bad, but I did see one of the eagles getting some training as I stopped by the show arena. There was an interesting exhibit on falconry, about which I know essentially nothing. Apparently the Egyptians were doing falconry as early as several centuries BC, and it has also been a tradition in the Middle East, Europe, and Japan.
It turned out to be just as well that I was pooped out and left in the mid-afternoon (it was 86 degrees!) — as soon as I got back to my hotel, it started pouring rain. I had intended to go to the Night Safari Park this evening, but the weather just doesn’t look promising. Apparently it’s a neat place because all the nocturnal creatures that are usually asleep at the zoo — like the big cats — are out and active at night. Maybe I can go tomorrow.
(In fact, as I write this, there is a spectacular lighting show going on outside my window. Wow! Serious weather tonight).
Some of the birds looked unhappy to be confined. For creatures used to free flight in three dimensions, cages may be especially cruel. It seems that only humans like to tie their fellow creatures up and gawk at them. It is, in my opinion, something of a quest to understand ourselves.
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