Male red-cheeked cordon-bleu makes surprise appearance at Punggol Park

Not the fried chicken dish please.

Sumita Thiagarajan | November 04, 2020, 06:54 PM

One red-cheeked cordon-bleu at Punggol Park has been keeping bird enthusiasts in Singapore busy recently.

While it shares the name of this French dish, it has nothing to do with food and does not look anything like this.

Photo of cordon-bleu. Via Wikipedia.

Instead, we're talking about this:

Photo via Deep Ujjawal/Facebook

Cordon-bleu means "blue ribbon" in French and the bird gets its name because of its brightly-coloured blue plumage.

The male red-cheeked cordon-bleu has a distinct red patch on its cheeks.

The female has no red cheeks and has a duller plumage.

Here are more photos of the beautiful bird taken by bird enthusiasts from Facebook group Bird Sightings:

Photo via Deep Ujjawal/Facebook

Always camera-ready with its natural blush:

Photo by Cecillia Lee/Facebook

Nailing influencers' favourite pose of looking up and away from the camera:

Photo by Cecillia Lee/Facebook

Photo by Cecillia Lee/Facebook

Photo by Cecillia Lee/Facebook

Here's a video:

Could be a released pet or an escapee

According to Singapore Birds, the red-cheeked cordon-bleu belongs to the family of weaver-finches.

This species mainly consumes seeds and grains, such as grass seeds, and have been observed to consume beeswax.

The red-cheeked cordon-bleu is originally found in Sub-Saharan Africa (the area that lies south of the Sahara).

Not native to Singapore, this individual sighted in Punggol Park could have been released or escaped.

Another red-cheeked cordon-bleu was previously spotted at Singapore Botanic Gardens in 2012.

Penalty for releasing wildlife without approval

According to the National Parks Board, visitors to our green spaces are asked to refrain from releasing animals into our parks and nature reserves as it may "upset our fragile eco-system and cause more harm than good."

Those who release animals could also face a fine of S$5,000, under the Wild Animals and Birds Act.

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Top images via Deep Ujjawal/Facebook