Parakeets & 4 babies at Bukit Merah attract crowd of birdwatchers, including Chan Chun Sing

A family of red-breasted parakeets has drawn quite some interest, along with a sizeable crowd, at Bukit Merah.

So much so that Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing, also Member of Parliament for the Buona Vista division of Tanjong Pagar GRC, where the parakeets are at, made an appearance as well.

On Jul. 5, Chan popped by to check out what the birdwatchers were observing.

In a video he shared on his social media, Chan interacted with fellow photographers, and observed the family of birds through their camera lens as well.

A yearly affair?

This is not the first time parakeets were spotted at this site.

In 2024, a family including three babies drew much attention as well.

This year, four babies were found in the same nesting site, which is a hole in a tree trunk.

Photographers such as Cham Waiseng were able to capture the parent birds feeding their chicks a variety of food, including caterpillars.

Red-breasted parakeets are an introduced resident that can be commonly seen in Singapore's urban areas.

On Jul. 7, at around 2:30pm, more than 10 photographers were on site, though all kept a respectable distance from the nesting tree to avoid disturbing the family.

Last year, a man apparently tried to take away one of the fledglings after it fell from its nest.

Thankfully, he was stopped by a few photographers, and was told that the police would be called down if he persisted.

The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) was called down when the same fledgling attempted to take flight and fell out of its nest again.

Acres Co-CEO Kalai Vanan previously shared that young birds which fledge do not need to be rescued.

"They need to simply be put back up to rest where they can continued to be guided and cared for by their parents."

He also reminded the public that birds are wild animals and that baby birds should not be brought home to be cared for.

In cases where people have tried hand-raising such birds at home and released them, thinking they will survive, Acres’ wildlife rescue team has found the animals in a weakened and emaciated state.

“Such rehabilitation work should be left to organisations who know how to do it.”

Top photo courtesy of Cham Waiseng, from Chan Chun Sing/IG