Meet The S'pore Man Who Rescues Crows From Danger In His Sengkang Flat

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Even before you reach content marketing specialist Tyronne Tong’s Sengkang HDB flat, you would have heard the unmistakable sound of cawing crows, announcing the presence of Team 8days.sg.

Yes, the 30-year-old rescues crows, something he has been doing since 2021.

Tyronne is currently caring for two juvenile crows he named Kuri and Kimi, with help from his girlfriend Sybil, 30, a freelance creative and video editor.

“When they are noisy, it can only mean two things. They are hungry, or there is someone unfamiliar to them at the door,” he says.

Tyronne recalls how Kuri and Kimi were about three months old when they were surrendered to him by a couple who found them at Tampines quarry.

“The parents were nowhere in sight, and there were otters around, so I suspect they [the parents] might have been eaten, so it was very dangerous [for the baby crows],” he said.

In addition to the pair of crows we came to see, we saw that Tyronne also has a caique named Soju, and two poodles, Sachi and Snoopy.

He assures us they all co-exist perfectly so far.

“I think both dogs and the caique are quite de-sensitised to the crows and seem to tolerate them quite well,” he says.

At press time, Kuri and Kumi are more than four months old, and according to Tyronne should be ready to leave in a couple of weeks.

But he doesn’t force it. Also because it is against the law in Singapore to purposely release animals into the wild.

Tyronne says he simply leaves the gate to their cage open, and that they can choose to leave any time they want.

Fully aware that crows aren’t meant to be pets, it doesn’t stop him from geeking out about them, peppering our conversations with fun facts about caring for crows such as their diets, and says he spends about S$20 a week on their food.

“Did you know you can’t feed crows water directly? They will drown. So we use dog or cat canned food, and they will get their hydration from there,” he says.

At this point in our conversation, one of the crows (we don’t know if it was Kuri or Kimi) was clearly unimpressed that their incessant cawing had not earned them a snack, seemingly decided to take matters into their own claws, flying straight at this writer before perching on my head.

Praying it wouldn’t poop on me, Tyronne chuckled and quickly came to the rescue.

We didn’t wait for round two and suggested that it was time to feed them.

We realise Tyronne might be some sort of 'Crow Whisperer' when he says that he has never been attacked in the four years since he started rescuing these feathered creatures.

His first was a heavily injured baby crow he found at Bukit Panjang he named Kuro.

“Kuro probably got run over by a bicycle and attacked by cats. I couldn’t just let it die there, right?” he said.

Tyronne also feels that the crows he previously rescued and that have left once they recovered, seem to recognise him when he leaves home.

“They caw and start flying closer, then you realise a whole murder of crows start flying towards you. It is quite cool to be escorted this way,” he laughs.

“There was one time, a grandma was with a kid, and she told him I was probably cursed by black magic,” Tyronne grins.

His bird-rescuing streak began in primary school when he brought home all kinds of birds, but he admits he’s had a special affinity with crows in recent years.

"Some people call me 'Singapore's Itachi Uchiha too!" he laughs.

So, what do his folks think?

Tyronne laughs and says that his parents have long given up asking when he will stop bringing home critters.

“I think they are lowkey happy for me lah. At least I am doing something good. They used to get so annoyed with me every time I brought an animal back,” he says.

In fact, it seems he has inspired his mum, who now fosters one of his former rescues, a crow with a disabled leg named Kilo that can’t be released.

Kilo has a disabled leg, making it impossible for it to return to the wild. As such, it is currently being looked after by her.

“She treats it like a grandchild — gives us regular updates like, “Kilo did this today!’” he grins.

“My mum is definitely less lonely now."

Surprisingly, Tyronne’s neighbours are cool with the crows.

“One neighbour even says she finds them useful because they caw when strangers approach, giving her time to close the door.

And then there was one time a neighbour nearly gave him a heart attack.

“The cage looked like it was splattered with blood. I panicked and checked the crow, then found out she’d been feeding them raspberries,” he laughs.

Of course, Tyronne understands that most people are not fans of crows and gives a tight smile when we ask what he thought about the methods used to control the crow population in Singapore today.

“It is sad to see and hear of crows being put down. But it’s better than two decades ago. Remember when they used to shoot them?” he says.

We suggest he start a crow rescue group, maybe even Singapore’s very own ACRES for crows.

Tyronne laughs and says it is tough in Singapore.

“Maybe if I move overseas. But if ACRES wants to collaborate, they can come find me!” he grins.

Photos: Kelvin Chia, tyronnetong/IG