The Jungle Bird was invented by Jeffrey Ong, or Ong Swee Teik, (10 August 1948 - 26 February, 2019) who in 1973 was the Beverage Manager of the Kuala Lumpur Hilton Hotel. However, it was first documented in 1989 via John J. Poister in his “The New American Bartender’s Guide.” More well known rum cocktail historian, Jeff “Beachbum” Berry also includes the recipe in his 2002 book, “Intoxica!”