Wild chickens

It is said that red jungle fowls are rare in Singapore, and are listed as 'Endangered' in the Red List of threatened animals of Singapore.Lucky me, these fowls are often sighted in the area where I live since 2010.

Taken in 2010.

Fast forward to 2013, they are now neighbors since a flock has taken up residence in a vacant house that is for rent. Each morning the flock will fly out and forage and by 8 am they will disappear back into the garden and not be seen for the rest of the day. 

They have been on my hit list but not a priority for a long time. Since the haze was keeping me close to home, they got bumped up. Being wild, the flock is extremely weary of humans. I shot the photos below with a long lens and then cropped them.

The alpha male of a flock that lives in the estate (2013)

Before we all start to jump for joy that a threatened species is making a comeback. Look closely at the chickens as they are hybrids, having interbred with domesticated chickens. A pure red jungle fowl should have black legs like the photo taken in 2010. The male that you see in the recent photo has pale legs.

This fella has a lot to crow about

Good thing people living in the estate are generally tolerant of animals that live among us and don't take kindly to poachers.