Rare Sight of Chicken Flying Across Pasir Ris River Looks Like KFC

2021-06-18 , 5:34 pm

While we do see a couple roaming around, most of the chickens we see in Singapore are on our plates and fried.

We rarely see spot in HDB residential areas, and only occasionally at KFC engaging in cannibalism.

But one place most of us have never seen them, is in the sky.

A local photographer’s pictures of a flying chicken have gone viral after he shared them on the Facebook page Wildlife @ Pasir Ris & vicinity.

In just two days, Mr Adrian Tan’s post has been shared over 4,700 times and garnered 1,500 likes.

The series of pictures in the post show a white chicken soaring through the air with the majesty of a mature eagle.

It’s such a rare sight that it may take a while for you to believe what you’re seeing:

“It is a plane no, it is a bird no, it is a chicken! A flying chicken!” joked Mr Tan in his post.

Why Did the Chicken Cross the River?

Tan told Mothership that he spotted the flying fowl on 8 June on one of his regular walks at Pasir Ris Park.

He usually snaps pictures of any wildlife he spots on these walks, and happened to find a chicken flying through the air that day at around 8 am.

Tan initially believed it was a “relatively big red-headed white bird”, but later realised it was a “beautiful flying chicken” when it flew closer.

He explained that the chicken “flew diagonally” in order to safely cross to the other side of the river.

Now, you’re probably wondering: chickens can fly meh?

Well obviously the answer is yes because of the pictures above, but as for the whole species, the answer is a little more complicated.

Depending on the breed, chickens can fly to heights of around 3 meters, and can span distances of just 12 to 15 metres.

This isn’t the chicken’s fault, though. We did this to them.

The modern chicken cannot fly as high or long as its ancestors because we domesticated and selectively bred them to have larger flight muscles.

The larger their flight muscles, the more white meat humans have to consume.

Unfortunately for chickens, this impedes their ability to fly, as their flight muscles are huge but wings are too small to carry them.

It’d be like attaching an eagle’s wings to a baby elephant and asking them to fly across the Causeway.

When the few that can fly do take to their air, however, it’s certainly a beautiful sight.

Featured Image: Facebook (Adrian Tan)