Story By: Lee Bullen,Sub Editor: Joseph Golder,Agency: Asia Wire Report 

Video Credit: AsiaWire/@jiahwee.lim

This is the moment hundreds of storks grace the Singaporean skies and experts are blaming climate change as they are rarely seen so far south.

According to local media, the mustering of swooping storks wowed residents in the Singapore regions of Choa Chu Kang, Woodlands, Pasir Ris, Tampines, Bukit Panjang, Teck Whye and Bukit Batok.

Netizen ‘Irwan’ said: “We were near Choa Chu Kang Avenue 7 when we saw this whole group of birds and started taking a video of them.

“I didn’t manage to see any of the birds up close, but they were very large.

“I am not sure what kind of bird it is, but I think it’s an Asian openbill stork (Anastomus oscitans).

“When I first saw the group of birds flying around, I told my son about it and joked ‘maybe they’re enjoying a tour of the island’.”

“Usually, you’d only see one to two, or maybe a few, but this is a huge group!”

Netizen ‘Neo’ said: “It is the first time I have ever seen these birds and they are in such a huge flock.

“We were wondering if this was due to climate change.”

‘Joe’ agreed, writing on social media: “I saw thousands of storks flying around 6pm on Sunday.

“It was very impressive, but could it be due to abnormal weather conditions around the world?”

Storks are found mainly in India and Southeast Asia, inhabiting wetlands, flooded agricultural fields and lakes.

They are known to migrate across Southeast Asia but are rarely spotted over Singapore.

According to local media, experts have attributed their appearance over Singaporean skies to climate change.

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