Jurong Bird Park

I felt that the highlight of the bird park were the two shows, Kings of the Skies and Birds n Buddies. The birds on display in the cages were the usual. To the regular tourist eye, the park seems to be like a zoo without the non bird type animals. I didn’t notice any birds that seemed especially rare or different.

Penguin Coast. The first birds we saw were penguins. We sat down in the benches in front of them and planned out a route that would work with the two show times. The grounds looked big on the map but we could actually cover a lot of distance walking around.

Branch of Parrots by the side.

Flamingo Pool.

Beautiful plant.

Wetlands.

Mandarin Ducks.

Pelican Cove.

African Waterfall Aviary. We visited the famous waterfall but didn’t stay for long because it was so stinky in the aviary.

Outside the African Waterfall Aviary. Really perky boobies, big thighs and cacti.

Kings of the Skies 10am show. The host of the show was really awesome. He had a dry sense of humour that didn’t seem to impress the crowd so much but I certainly enjoyed it. He had such skinny arms, but he carried the big birds on them like nothing. Maybe the birds aren’t as heavy as they look (with hollow bones and all), but I’m almost sure I’d need two hands to carry a bird this big!

I was very excited about this show. I like birds of prey. There were hawks, falcons, eagles, owls and vultures. They flew in and out from different directions. None flew that close to me, but they did glide over the audience sometimes.

Hunting for prey in the wild was demonstrated with plastic mice, rabbits and snakes. The fakes were then exchanged with treats from the trainers.

Some birds were brought in by uniformed staff members. Some birds were brought in by costumed trainers as the history of using birds of prey was explained. I want to be a medieval lady with a falcon. How awesome would that be.

Hunting dogs and retrievers were also brought in.

The finale of the show was a volunteer wearing a glove and having a vulture land on her hand. That looked really cool to do.

After the birds of prey show, we had around half an hour until Birds n Buddies. We found that just enough time to finish seeing the birds we wanted to see. Here’s another beautiful and strange plant.

Royal Ramble – Crowned Pigeons.

Lory Loft.

Dinosaur Descendants.

Jungle Jewels.

Birds n Buddies 11am show. This show had a much bigger amphitheatre and also had a much bigger turn out. It started raining just as the announcer came running out with a flock of flamingos to begin the show. It steadily rained lightly for the whole duration of the show until just before the finish. Great timing!

Occasionally, costumed toucans and pelicans came out to distract the crowd or teach a lesson about environmental conservation.

There was a lot more audience participation in this show. There were birds flying through hoops that people held, bursting through rice paper, taking money and dropping off ice cream coupons.

My favourite part was when the pelicans came out. Their chins wobbled with every step. It was so funny to watch.

The Birds n Buddies show had a lot more birds but I felt that it was really targeted to elementary school students and I didn’t enjoy it as much. After the show, the rain had fortunately stopped, and we made our way back to the bus stop. It was a great morning, but I think I’d rather go to the zoo next time.