Colourful Pokémon-like bird existed in S’pore 150 years ago, migrated to M’sia due to habitat loss

A bird with features impossible to miss in the forest was spotted recently in Malaysia, which turns out it used to be a former resident in Singapore about 150 years ago.

Photographer Kenneth Cheong shared his sighting of the bird on the Singapore Birders Facebook page on Feb 8, noting that the bird is threatened by habitat loss. He came across the black-and-yellow broadbill in a mountain village in Pahang, Fraser’s Hill, on Jan 26.

He uploaded striking photos of the bird, featuring its turquoise-blue beak and bright yellow feathers contrasting its black body.

The bird also has a white collar and equally bright yellow eyes.

British naturalist Stamford Raffles described the black-and-yellow broadbill as a specimen from Singapore in 1822, although it can no longer be found locally.

Today, the geographical range of the bird includes Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand.

“There just isn’t enough forest for it to survive locally,” said Mr Cheong.

The black-and-yellow broadbill has been extinct in Singapore for nearly 150 years, confirmed Asia programme manager for migratory bird conservation at Birdlife International Yong Ding Li in a Mothership report.

“They need good forests with tall trees,” said Mr Li, noting that the broadbills are rainforest birds, needing a high canopy of forests at least 10 metres aboveground.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the black-and-yellow broadbill as “Near Threatened.”

Singapore has two other broadbill species now former residents: the black-and-red broadbill and green broadbill.

The black-and-red broadbill has the same turquoise beak, but showcases a deep red chest and neck area and blue-green eyes.

The Singapore Birds Project noted this bird was only spotted a handful of times in the last decade.

Meanwhile, the deep green overall plumage of the green broadbill gives it its striking appearance. It was seen last year, although sightings of the beautiful bird are less frequent.

These two broadbills are described as very rare, non-breeding visitors in Singapore. /TISG

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