SINGAPORE, Feb 7 – The appearances of two rare birds — a Himalayan griffon and a hair-crested drongo — spotted in Singapore recently have thrilled local birdwatchers who managed to see the species perched up close.

Straits Times cited 20-year-old bird enthusiast Lee Zhi Heng spotting the griffon — a large migratory vulture — flying past his 10th-floor condominium in Commonwealth this week, before landing on the rooftop of a nearby Housing Development Board (HDB) flat.

"I was basically shaking with excitement while fumbling with my phone to send out alerts to everyone,” Lee was quoted by ST.

"It’s rare to capture this bird perched – usually, if anyone’s lucky, they’ll just see it soaring very high up in the air.”

Another birdwatcher, Trevor Teo, 53, later told the paper that he spotted the vulture flying over Berlayer Creek in the Labrador area the following morning.

The Himalayan griffon is listed as "near threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List due to past population declines.

The species were greatly impacted by the use of Diclofenac, a drug used in cattle farming, that is lethal to vultures when they feed on carcasses.

In another rare sighting, a hair-crested drongo was spotted at Mount Faber, marking only the second time the species has been recorded in Singapore. The bird was last seen in the country in 2019 at Changi Business Park.

Prof Frank Rheindt, head of the National University of Singapore’s Avian Evolution Lab, was quoted saying the griffon has become a semi-regular winter visitor to Singapore.

He added that the bird likely came from a group that spends its winters at a vulture feeding site in Phuket, Thailand.

On the other hand, Prof Rheindt said the drongo, commonly found in drier parts of Southeast Asia, likely overshot its migration route.

According to him, the bird was likely a Chinese breeder that overshot too far south during migration.