Fauna at Hort Park

1. Yellow-vented Bulbul

(Pycnonotus goiavier analis)

The yellow-vented bulbuls have a iconic, yellow back.
They actually make very nice sounding calls, and are hence usually caught as songbirds.
The yellow-vented bulbul eats berries and small fruits.

Click the image to hear the call of a Yellow-vented Bulbul!

2. Red Weaver Ants

(Oecophylla smaragdina)

Red weaver ants have extremely powerful jaws and will bite whenever in danger.
They are also extremely territorial, usually fighting over land.
Weaver ants often live in trees and are known for their unique nest building behaviour where workers construct nests by weaving together leaves using larval silk.

3. Squirrel (Sciuridae)

A squirrel’s front teeth never stop growing. This ensures that their teeth don’t wear down from constant gnawing on nuts and other objects.
Squirrels communicate using a wide range of calls, such as territorial barks and ‘quacking’ noises, but their main form of communication is their tails. They use these as signalling devices, twitching them if they become suspicious of a threat.

4. Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus)

The butterfly has a rich fulvous orange forewings with a broad black apical border bearing a series of white spots.
Males can be distinguished by an additional brand on the hindwing.
Fun Fact: One of the first butterflies depicted in art, mostly seen in story books.

5. Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa sp.)

Carpenter bees may be similar to bumblebess but it can be distinguished from bumblebees as they have a shiny, hairless abdomen, while bumblebees have a hairy abdomen.
They are named carpenter bees because Carpenter bees tunnel into wood to lay their eggs.

6. Grass Yellow (Eurema hecabe)

Common Grass Yellow butterflies like to fly quickly, close to the ground, are found in open grassy or bushy terrain, hence their name.
Common Grass Yellow butterflies have different colouration in their wings depending on the season, known as ‘seasonal polyphenism’, resulting in generally darker wing colours in summer.

7. Scarlet-backed flowepecker

(Dicaeum cruentatum ignitum)

8. Cicada (Heuchy sp.)

Cicadas live in trees and vibrate their abdomen to make the sound that you hear commonly in parjs.
They are made by male Cicadas to attract females.
Fun Fact: They are also eaten in places like China, where they are served as a delicacy.

9. Brown-throated Sunbird

(Anthreptes malacensis malacensis)

Males and Females are very different in their looks
Adult males have a yellow underside, a brown throat and dark green upperparts while female has yellow underparts and an olive back.
It feeds mainly on nectar and small invertebrates

10. Collared kingfisher

(Todiramphus chloris humii)

It has distinct blue wings and white body
Hard to spot due to its speed, but rather easy to hear as they would typical call out loud, harsh and metallic and repeated several times.
There are a wide range of these collared kingfisher, with several different species in every region of the world.