Rare pigeon beckons to Stomper in Pasir Ris, leaves him in chirpy mood
A man was thrilled to be greeted by a rare pigeon at a neighbourhood park in Pasir Ris.
Stomper Gordon spotted the "very large" bird on a tree at The Green Oval on Jan 2.
He shared a video of the pigeon grooming itself and photos that show the bird seemingly looking right at him.
Gordon wondered if the bird was a dove at first and said: "I'm curious if it's local or migratory from the nearby region. Anyway, I was just happy to spot it."
We reached out to Mr John Lee, founder of Wildlife Asia (Singapore) and Stomp's resident wildlife expert, who identified the bird as a Green Imperial Pigeon.
Mr Lee told Stomp: "The Imperial Pigeon is normally found in Malaysia. There are two species in Singapore, the Pied Imperial Pigeon and the Green Imperial Pigeon. Both are large-sized birds and bigger than normal pigeons."
According to online sources, the Green Imperial Pigeon is a rare non-breeding visitor in Singapore.
It is listed as a Near Threatened species due to habitat loss caused by deforestation.
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