I recently had two unusual birding encounters at home. The first took place on 15 August, when a black juvenile bird (Fig. 1) found its way into my laundry area in the afternoon and became trapped between the washing machine and the wall. It had probably entered through the window while learning to fly, or fallen from a nest hidden on the air-con ledge above my apartment. I placed it in a carton box, with the top half partly closed to give it some privacy while I decided what to do.

After hiding in a corner of the box for a while, it jumped out and perched on the edge. I edged closer slowly and, to my surprise, it remained relatively calm. It could fly only very short distances and stayed close to the floor, so releasing it then would likely have exposed it to the wild cats around the area. I also had no idea how to care for a bird. Fortunately, a friend of my wife knew someone experienced in looking after birds. The bird, still in the box, was sent to that person late the same evening. The last update I received was that it had been released back into the wild after being assessed as ready.

I had no idea what species the bird was, so I decided to ask ChatGPT using the photo I had taken. I was impressed by the precision of its answer (Fig. 2).

Fig. 1: Juvenile bird that flew into my home.	Fig. 2: Answer from ChatGPT on the identity of the bird.

The second encounter took place on 1 September, also in the afternoon. I was returning home from an errand when I saw this sunbird (Fig. 3) perched and chirping on a horizontal vine of an unknown grape species hanging between two plants along the balcony area just outside my entrance. I walked past it to open my door, but it did not fly away. This was unusual, as most birds would have flown off by then. I watched it for a while, and it did not seem too fearful of my presence, even when I moved closer. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a few pictures. As I moved around the balcony to observe it from different angles, it remained on the vine. I then took out my phone and recorded a video. The 50-second short has been uploaded to YouTube. After finishing my documentation, I left it alone. It stayed for more than an hour before moving off.

Although I knew it was a sunbird, I wanted to identify the species. Once again, I consulted ChatGPT (Fig. 4).

Fig. 3: Sunbird at my balcony area.	Fig. 4: Answer from ChatGPT on the identity of the bird.

Both birds are very common in Singapore. On the iNaturalist website, viewed on 13 September 2026, there were 4,775 Singapore observations of the Ornate Sunbird (Cinnyris ornatus) and 3,131 of the Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis).