Jurong Bird Park Review: I visited Jurong Bird Park in Singapore over a decade ago. Like the Singapore Zoo, it’s a paradise for animal enthusiasts. This post shall help you review and decide on visiting. Jurong Bird Park is no doubt a must-visit landmark in Singapore!
Though I was young when I visited and have been to many places in Singapore, I remember the impeccable movements of the flamingoes, the penguins I thought were bigger, and an owl turning its head over 180 degrees to me!
Jurong Bird Park is great for a one-day visit. Some say they covered it in 3-4 hours. But for those who love watching bird shows and wish to stroll the fifty acres slowly, Jurong Bird Park takes 1 day to visit.
Note: In 2023, Jurong Bird Park shifted to the brand new Bird Paradise. All the birdies and staff are relocated to Mandai Zoo. I’ve yet to visit the new park and this post is of the previous Jurong Bird Park. This post shall remain as a memory to how the park was before – refer only to learn about the avians here. However, I’ve updated basic pricing details on this post.
This article is on everything you need to know about this bird park and decide for yourself. Let’s get to the Jurong Bird park review right away!
Jurong Bird Park review: How to get there?
Jurong Bird Park is away from most other tourist spots in Singapore, away from Sentosa Island or the Singapore Zoo. Coming from Batam, we came from HarbourFront which is 17 kilometers away from Jurong Bird Park.
From Changi Airport, the bird park is 38 kilometers. You can drive there, take a taxi, or use the MRT – whichever’s convenient.
Ways to get to the Bird park:
- By public transport. From MRT, alight at Boon Lay (EW27) from the East-West Line. Then take the 194 from the Boon Lay bus interchange.
- By private vehicle or hire a taxi. Check up-to-date parking fares on the official site.
Accommodation nearby Jurong Bird park
We were staying at the Village Hotel Bugis (or Golden Landmark), a hotel 20 kilometers away from Jurong Bird Park. With some other touring plans, we’d booked the hotel for one night. Owned by Far East Hospitality, Golden Landmark is a 4-star hotel with lavish interiors and a quiet place to stay.
For cheap accommodations in Singapore, try HostelWorld. My favorite hostel when I went on my Singapore solo trip was staying at Spacepod in Lavender.
After breakfast, we headed to Jurong Bird Park using the MRT. Forgive my scary glasses!
Tickets to Jurong Bird Park
Jurong Bird Park review – With the pandemic, prebook your tickets to the parks in Singapore. Here, for non-residents public tickets, it costs:
As of 2023, Bird Paradise (previously Jurong Bird Park), the updated ticket rates are:
- S$48 SGD for adults
- S$33 SGD for children (3-12)
- S$20 SGD for seniors
The prices are higher for the weekends and differ for permanent residents of Singapore. There are strict guidelines to be followed for safety measures. Groups of up to 5 members are allowed and should maintain a 1-meter distance between other groups. Read more on the official site.
2023 Update: Today there are lesser restrictions on visiting attractions in Singapore. But I’d recommend keeping in touch with the official SG Govt. site for travel updates.
However, visiting way before COVID-19, we didn’t have any trouble with booking the tickets.
Bird Paradise tickets don’t different from site to site. Still, I’d recommend using Klook.com for all your attraction tickets in Singapore earn points and avail discounts. Also, Klook is reliable in Singapore, making it a one-stop platform to manage all attraction booking here.
Being an affiliate partner of Klook, our readers get better deals. Pick your favorite Bird Paradise deal today!
Klook.comStunning Facts of Jurong Bird Park
I couldn’t miss out on this in my Jurong Bird Park review. Unsurprisingly, Bird Park is known all over the globe for its world-class environment for its birds. Here are some astounding facts about the park:
- It’s known for having the world’s largest walk-in aviary for its lorries – Loft Lory.
- Jurong Bird Park is Asia’s largest bird park that houses over 5000 birds of 400 species.
- The Waterfall Aviary is the second-largest aviary that covers 4 acres and it alone has 600 free-flying birds.
- The waterfall here in Waterfall Aviary is one of the world’s tallest man-made waterfalls at 35 meters.
The Jurong Bird Park was built on the vision of Goh Keng Swee (Singapore’s Former Deputy Prime Minister). When asked why a bird park instead of a zoo, Dr. Goh answered that bird seeds cost less than meat.
Read more Jurong Bird Park facts on Strait Times Singapore.
Penguin Coast
Of 5 species of penguins in Jurong Bird Park, the King Penguin was the most graceful one with its streamlined color features and deep dark eyes. The Penguin Coast is an indoor coast.
It’s a dark-themed exhibit covering 1600 meter square and the penguins behind a glass barrier under 10-15 degrees celsius. You’ll find the King Penguin, Humboldt, and Rockhopper species here.
Never having seen penguins before, I was in awe of their sizes. I always thought they were bigger when most were half my size back then! The indoor Coast is basically a large aquarium of penguins that consists of a part land with patches of snow and part water body for the penguins to swim in.
There’s also an outdoor exhibit for African Penguins to doddle around. These are exposed and comfortable to warmer temperatures, unlike the penguins on the indoor coast. These penguins can be fed by visitors for 5 SGD/food portions.
I spent most of my time on the indoor coast looking at the adorable penguins! Here are some pictures:
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Owls in Jurong Bird Park
Like the penguins, there’s a similarly dark and glassed zone for the owls in the World of Darkness. Though scary at first, I saw the magnificent features of the owls.
What initially appeared to be only brown feathers slowly turned its head a complete 180 degrees to look towards me! I didn’t know if the birds could see through the glass, but their big eyes were intriguing.
Another post for you to read: Chinatown Singapore: Best Things to do & eat
Flamingo Lake in Jurong Bird Park
The Flamingo lake covers a large part of Bird Park. We were walking on our pathway when slow pink movements captured our eyes.
The flamingoes, with their long necks and legs, seemed to be moving in a union. Standing far away from them, we couldn’t hear the sounds they made, but from a distance, they were majestic!
Standing in the shallow lake, they didn’t seem very tall. Some walking on land made me realize their thin yet sturdy legs. Telling from the vivid pink, these flamingoes were fully grown. After all, baby flamingoes hatch grey in color.
Fun fact: Though the flamingoes you see here on the park walk most times, they have powerful wings and travel at 50 kilometers/hour! That allows them to fly over 500 kilometers in a single night! Thus, their flight performance is as fascinating as their beauty.
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Storks and Pelicans (Pelican Cove)
The pelicans looked great from far a distance. None of us were really into birds, we walked past the pelican cove on our pathway. As we approached the end of the Pelican Cove, a large pelican swam towards the end of the pond as well!
I remember being excited at first and then very scared. Pelicans, unlike storks, are massive. It made loud grunts as it flapped its wings at the small space it stood in at the corner of its pond.
As I was smaller, the pelican was my height back then! We stayed a meter away from it. Apart from being big, the long beak and its orange pouch beneath were enough to make us keep our distance.
As it turned its head around and made hoarse grunts, it made the water splash and its beak swooshed – covering a large area around it.
Another post for you to read: River Wonders Singapore: Rare Creatures to Spot!
Parrot Paradise
Leaving the big boys aside, Parrot Paradise in Jurong Bird Park brings you to the colorful parts of the park. Yes, you’ll find the macaws (the birds in Rio, the movie) here!
The photogenic birds sat there perched on their branches, some still and posing for the cameras. Others pushing the other macaws for a better branch to sit on!
Here are some facts about these macaws:
- Macaws are a parrot breed. All macaws are parrots, but not all parrots are macaws.
- They’re more vibrant with colors, have larger beaks, and are overall bigger than other parrots.
I loved the macaws. Especially the color patterns on their feathers. They had a patch of green on their heads, white around their eyes and beaks, yellow and bright blue for their bodies and wings, and darker shades for their tails longer than their whole bodies.
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African Waterfall Aviary
Here, you’ll need to observe more keenly to find the birds around before they duck through the verdure again. Unlike other zones, this place is quiet and a calm place to admire the greenery.
And of course, the infamous waterfall in the African Waterfall Aviary. The 35m waterfall is one of the world’s biggest manmade indoor waterfalls – a sight that’s no doubt a must-visit in all the parks.
We aren’t allowed near the waterfall. But the suspended bridge crossing the waterfall walks us over the panoramic view of the falls and makes for sweet pictures.
The waterfall, the theme, and the foilage shelter some hidden gems here. Some are helmeted Guineafowl, Crowned Pigeons, and superb starlings. While we were supposed to look for these species, we got caught up in taking shots with the African theme set up.
Another post for you to read: Singapore River Cruise blog: An Honest One
Loft Lory in Jurong Bird Park
Jurong Bird Park review: This was my favorite zone in all of the Bird Park. Even on the map, the Loft Lory is the only zone stamped as a ‘Must-See’ in Jurong Bird Park.
With lilliput lorries perching up to drink from your food cups, it’s one of the best experiences for all age groups to check out in Singapore. The Lory Loft, in case you didn’t know, is the world’s biggest indoor walk-in aviary for lories.
The entire aviary like any other is a large enclosure for the lories – it was nothing short of a world within a world. A paradise for these small colorful birds. What’s more magnificent is the opportunity to feed the birdies here.
- It costs SGD 5 per food portion for feeding in Loft Lory Jurong Bird Park. Look up the feeding timings before you go.
We spent almost the rest of our time in Jurong Bird Park in Loft Lory. Thus it made up for most of our pictures.
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Pools Amphitheatre – High Flyers Show!
The High Flyers Show is one of the most interesting things in Bird Park. There’s a lot of interaction with the audience here along with trained birds.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t visit the other show – King of the Skies. But the High Flyers Show was beautiful! With trained Macaws competing with each other in various activities, a parrot – Amigo sings songs in Mandarin, English, and Indonesian and counts numbers.
The show features the most eye-catching birds exhibiting their talents. Some fly through hoops, toucans sit on your arms, and one even takes dollar bills off your palm!
Tailpiece
Though this turned out more of a travel blog than a Jurong Bird Park review, I hope it helps you decide on whether to visit this park.
For bird lovers, there’s no doubt this is a must. But when given a choice between the Singapore Zoo and Jurong Bird Park, go for the Singapore Zoo. It’s bigger with more animal species. As a kid, the Zoo was more interesting to me with the bigger animals.
But the Lorry Loft and High-flyers Show are a must-visit for anyone traveling to Singapore. Visiting Jurong Bird Park for a 1-day trip is a decent vacation, especially for families. It’s definitely great for its price.
That ends my Jurong Bird Park review :)
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Like this post?
A very comprehensive blog!!
Great work!
Thank you very much Nidhi!:)