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Lamp post storks

on 30th March 2009

“While on the way back to Singapore from Bukit Tinggi, at the entrance of Zoo Negara, Kuala Lumpur, we came across Milky (Mycteria cinerea) and Painted Storks (Mycteria leucocephala) (left), all perched on the lamp posts.

“Some of the lamp posts had up to three birds and some only single birds. I believe some of these birds were released by the Malaysians, and some of them could have flown up from Singapore, we will never know.

“However it was quite a sight having these big birds right in the heart of town, along a very busy thoroughfare.”

Report by K C Tsang
Picture by Willi Kwek

Yong Ding Li has this to add: “Interestingly all the painted and milky storks seen in Singapore and South Johor are most probably free-ranging birds from the Singapore Zoo (I have a newspaper cutting of these birds in Johor from a New Straits Times in the late 1990s). There is a second population of these free ranging birds in KL’s Zoo Negara but i dont think those came this far south. As far as milky storks are concerned at least, we cannot say with any certainty that they are of wild origin as there are free-ranging flocks at our Zoo. In Peninsular Malaysia, the only true wild Milky Stork is a declining flock of now less than 10 birds at the Matang Larut Mangrove Forest at Perak near Port Weld. The nearest colony to Singapore is either this or another colony on the east Sumatra coast in Jambi/Riau (but I doubt these wander over since there is extensive mudflat to forage on the Sumatra east coast)”

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

Other posts by YC Wee

One Response

  1. These Painted and Milky Storks outside Zoo Negara are part of their own free-flying population. These have been wandering around the city since, at least the 1990s.

    The only wild population of Milky Storks left in Peninsula Malaysia is up at Kuala Gula in Perak, as Ding Li mentions. However, in the late 1980s, the Interwader researchers found a 2 remnant birds near Sungei Benut Estuary, probably part of a former unknown colony.

    There has also been reintroductions of the species at Kuala Selangor.

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