Benjamin Tan’s Balcony Has Become An Accidental Bird Nursery After Birds Decided It Was The Best Place To Build Their Nest
The 32-year-old actor tells 8days.sg that he first noticed the nesting pair in mid-April.
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Most people use their balconies for plants, laundry, or occasionally judging the weather before deciding if it is too hot to leave the house.
But for local actor Benjamin Tan, his balcony has unexpectedly turned into a full-fledged bird nursery after a couple of birds decided to make his balcony their home.
And yes, he has been documenting the entire thing like a proud parent.
Over the past few weeks, Benjamin has been posting bird updates on Instagram almost every day chronicling everything from nest-building to when there were eggs.
Speaking to 8days.sg, Benjamin shared that birds have always been frequent visitors to his balcony, likely thanks to the many plants he keeps, including a frangipani tree he planted himself.
“But this particular pair of birds has been popping by as and when for quite some time over the past few months,” he tells us.
Based on their appearance, he believes they are pink-necked green pigeons, a species native to Singapore.
“Last month, they actually stayed way longer than usual on my balcony and even started exploring my potted plants,” he says.
Soon enough, the Perfectly Imperfect actor caught the male bird gathering twigs and passing them to the female to build a nest.
Guess they weren’t just casual visitors but have decided to move in.
Benjamin admits this is his first time seeing nesting birds up close.
“Yes! It’s such an amazing sight and experience because I’ve only seen footage of birds nesting on the Discovery Channel or animal YouTube channels,” he laughs.
And yes, he absolutely checks on them first thing every morning.
“Ever since I realised they decided to nest at my pot of philodendron billitiae variegated, I wake up every morning feeling excited to check on the progress,” says the plant enthusiast.
The actor also hilariously admitted he spent weeks anxiously waiting for the eggs to hatch.
“The fulfilling moment was when I realised the eggs hatched just last week,” he gushes.
“And to date, they have grown quite big. I mean, I am no bird expert, but they do grow real fast, surprisingly!”
And unlike some feathered visitors who treat balconies like public toilets, Benjamin says his new bird family has been quite considerate.
“Since they are nesting in my potted plant, I didn’t really see any droppings out of the pot thus far, so I guess they are all in the pot,” he says when asked if he was worried about droppings.
He also says the birds are mostly quiet.
“They are really quiet like 95 per cent of the time,” he laughs.
“The only time they actually make noise is when they are taking turns nesting the eggs, and now the baby birds,” says Benjamin.
Thankfully, Benjamin’s feathered roommates have not caused any neighbourhood drama. Instead, they have their own fans online.
“I’ve been posting about them on my Instagram Stories almost daily, and my followers are really invested in the updates though,” he says.
Photos: bentanzx/IG
Catch Benjamin in Perfectly Imperfect on mewatch or in the video below: