- The 36th Singapore Bird Race is supported by Mapletree Investments for the second year running under two of its four corporate social responsibility pillars in support for the environment and education.
- This year’s race aimed to raise the profile of nationally threatened species in Singapore especially the White-rumped Shama, Blue-rumped Parrot and Greater Green Leafbird, all considered as nationally endangered.
- For the first time, the Race was powered by the digital citizen science platform, eBird, in a new collaboration between the Nature Society (Singapore), BirdLife International and the eBird team.
- More than 180 species of birds (2019: 167 species) were observed by almost 250 participants in 79 teams across six categories, including 25 nationally threatened species. This is by far the largest Race in the history of the Singapore Bird Race.
SINGAPORE – The 36th Singapore Bird Race, jointly organised by Mapletree Investments (“Mapletree” or “the Group”), BirdLife International and the Nature Society (Singapore) [NSS], and supported by the National Parks Board, saw the highest turnout in the history of the Race. This year, almost 250 participants competed in six different categories under safe distancing guidelines due to COVID-19. Amidst the new norm and to ensure the safety of participants, team size was limited to four members and all reporting of bird observations was done remotely, with neither centralised flag-off nor finale location.
Held over 5 and 6 December and coinciding with the 27th anniversary of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (Sungei Buloh Nature Park opened on 6 December 1993), this year’s race saw the addition of three new categories including the Novice, Family and Youth categories. These new categories aim to motivate parents to take their children out to enjoy nature, whilst encouraging youth and members of the public to take up birdwatching. The response to the new categories has been overwhelming, with 15 teams in the Family category and over 20 teams in the Novice category.
Another first for this year is the use of technology via eBird, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s (a part of Cornell University) increasingly popular and well-regarded web-based platform which enables users to submit observations of birds digitally, and the Merlin app for bird identification, also developed by the Cornell Lab. Prior to the race, teams also received training on how to log their observations during the race through eBird, where the results can be directly submitted to the judging panel.
A new scoring element was introduced this year to encourage teams to pay more attention to, and keep a special lookout for bird species that are considered as threatened in Singapore, and especially the ones featured in this year’s Race logo, namely the trio of nationally endangered species consisting of the Greater Green Leafbird, White-rumped Shama and Blue-rumped Parrot. By giving higher weightage to species that are considered as threatened, participants are further incentivised to report sightings of species that are of conservation concern.
Mr Edmund Cheng, Mapletree’s Chairman shared, “We are happy to be the main sponsor of the Singapore Bird Race for the second time and see such a good turnout with the virtual format this year. The race not only provides the opportunity for participants to learn about the birds found in Singapore, and the threatened species, it also allows them to rediscover Singapore’s nature reserves and parks. By bringing people closer to nature, we hope to remind everyone to incorporate sustainable habits in our daily lives.”
At the conclusion of the race, the teams gathered for an online webinar graced by Minister for National Development, Mr Desmond Lee, who also took part in the Race. Other guests included Mr Edmund Cheng, Dr Shawn Lum, President of the Nature Society (Singapore), Mr Vinayagan Dharmarajah, Regional Director for BirdLife International, as well as Mr Kenneth Er, Chief Executive Officer of the National Parks Board.
Team ‘SSKY Birders’ was the winning team in the Family Category, recording a total of 56 species. In the category for experienced birdwatchers, team ‘Weekend Birders’ recorded 123 species to beat five other teams to win in the Marathon category that spanned 24 hours and started on 5 December. In the Sprint (5-hour) category, team ‘The Flycatchers’ triumphed over 17 other teams with 71 species spotted.
Supporting the Singapore Bird Race is aligned with two of Mapletree’s key Corporate Social Responsibility pillars of environment and education. It is also a continuation of the partnership between Mapletree, the Nature Society (Singapore) and BirdLife International, which started with the “Straw-headed Bulbul Conservation Planning” Workshop held at Mapletree Business City in May 2019 and sponsorship of the Singapore Bird Race in 2019.
Mr Lim Kim Chuah, Chairman of the Nature Society (Singapore) Bird Group said, “We are very thankful to Mapletree for their continued support to the work of the Nature Society, and especially the conservation work of the NSS’s Bird Group. The sponsorship allowed us to scale up our conservation outreach significantly, while developing a robust model for organising future races. This support has also allowed us to develop a stronger alignment of our races with our conservation priorities, in this case, the conservation of Singapore’s most threatened bird species.” Mr Vinayagan Dharmarajah, Regional Director of BirdLife International agreed, and noted, “This year’s Race provides a critical window of opportunity to promote the profile of some of the region’s most threatened bird species, and a priority for BirdLife’s work.”
The Singapore Bird Race is the longest-running nature appreciation and citizen science event organised by the Nature Society (Singapore) and spans three decades. The first ever bird race was organised in 1984 and it has been held every subsequent year since then. Recognising that Singapore supports more than 400 species of wild birds in a diverse assemblage of habitats, a key objective of the Race is to promote the appreciation of birds and biodiversity in general to the public.
Winners of 36th Singapore Bird Race
| Team Name | Number of Species | Total Points Scored |
| Marathon | ||
| Weekend Birders | 123 | 165 |
| Batman and Robins | 114 | 150 |
| The 3Dads | 115 | 149 |
| Sprint | ||
| The Flycatchers | 71 | 101 |
| Three Men and a Baby | 73 | 89 |
| Pratincoles | 61 | 79 |
| Photographer | ||
| Fly Away Liao | 60 | 80 |
| Team Staraptor | 51 | 63 |
| Eurasian Birders | 42 | 60 |
| Novice | ||
| Team Public Transport | 68 | 84 |
| Duck Vaders | 52 | 62 |
| Team Fledglings | 47 | 61 |
| Family | ||
| SSKY Birders | 56 | 78 |
| Falcon | 40 | 54 |
| Bird-smith | 30 | 44 |
| Youth | ||
| 3 Birdiots | 73 | 87 |
| HC Hornbills | 62 | 74 |
| sc fly! (v2.0) | 26 | 30 |
Teams in action at the 36th Singapore Bird Race
Photo credit: Yap Wee Jin, Nature Society (Singapore)
Team ‘Three Men and a Baby’ at the 36th Singapore Bird Race
Photo credit: Yap Wee Jin, Nature Society (Singapore)
End-of-Race Webinar on 6 December 2020
(Top row, left to right): Emcee, Mr Geoff Lim, Nature Society (Singapore), Dr Shawn Lum, President of the Nature Society (Singapore), Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development & Minister-In-Charge of Social Services Integration
(Bottom row, left to right): Mr Vinayagan Dharmarajah, Regional Director for BirdLife International, Mr Edmund Cheng, Chairman, Mapletree Investments and Mr Wan Kwong Weng, Group Chief Corporate Officer, Mapletree Investments
Photo credit: Felicia Wee, Nature Society (Singapore)
