“I was out today to re-visit old locations in the city, with secondary jungle/scrub, that are being threatened by development.

“In May 2009 I reported a Baya Weaver (Ploceus philippinus infortunatus) nesting colony (8-10 nests) where Glossy Swiftlets (Collocalia esculenta cyanoptila) were robbing the active nests of Baya Weaver of their nesting material

“Went back to the exact location and saw the same behaviour still occurring.

“Many Glossy Swiftlets, one or two at a time would swoop down repeatedly to the completed Baya Weaver nest. They all target the same two nests that were already partially destroyed (one more than the other, both were close to each other). The material was again collected from the nest entry location (entrance-tube section). Possibly easier to steal and rip off from this location.

“The Glossy Swiftlets would either swoop in and grab a loose strand with their beak and pull away until it snapped. Or land upside down, hold on with their feet and pull out a strand (above left).

“Again they were stealing the Baya Weaver nesting material from a nest with young within. The activity was ‘violent’ and the nest swing side to side as they pulled strands hard. Again the Baya Weavers continued to feed their young (some difficulty in entering the nest) but did not seem to chase away the Glossy Swiftlets (above right). All the material brought for feeding was animal prey and I have only seen female feeding young (often caterpillars).

“About 10 meters away I saw more ‘healthy’ Glossy Swiftlets that were collecting nesting material of dried strands from a dead creeper (above left) It was tougher work but an honest day’s labour.

“You can see in contrasting the two nest being robbed how much material has been lost from the entrance-tube section of the nest (above right).

“I suspect this “colony” of Glossy Swiftlets has learned this bad behaviour and it will persist.”

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh City, Perak, Malaysia
6th March 2010

The Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) normally nests in tree cavities high up where it is safe from most predators - see here: 1 and 2. Lately, nesting boxes have been used in Singapore to provide scarce tree cavities for breeding.

On 20th February 2010, The Star Online carried a report of a pair of the convexus race using an earthen jar on the ground as a nest. This was in the rural village of Kampong Sungei Panjang in the Malaysian state of Selangor. The female hornbill apparently entered the jar which was lying on its side, sealed herself in with mud, leaving a narrow slit to communicate with her mate outside.

The male hornbill regularly flew to the jar to feed the female inside. But before flying to the ground, he would perch on the branch of a nearby tree to monitor human presence. Only when no one was near the jar would he fly down to feed the female inside the jar.

Food brought to the female included a centipede and palm oil fruits. This continued for about three months when the chick/s fledged. Obviously the villagers have learnt to coexist with the hornbills, not disturbing the breeding pair and allowing the breeding to complete its cycle.

This is not the first time the hornbills have nested in such a jar. Enggan, newsletter of the Malaysian Nature Society Bird Group had published an account of such an unusual nesting a few years earlier.

Image courtesy of The Star Online. Thanks to Allan Teo for alerting BESG to the account.

A Black-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus atriceps caecilii) was observed collecting nesting material by Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS on 9th February 2010. The location was the Kledang-Sayong Forest Reserve in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

The adult bulbul was collecting nesting material, hovering in mid air to peel strips off a palm trunk.

In the Malay Peninsular, nest building has been reported in mid and late March (Wells, 2007). In Singapore, a bird was seen at Sime Road on 19th March 1987 with nesting material (Wang & Hails, 2007).

References:
1. Wang, L.K. & C. J. Hails, 2007. An annotated checklist of birds of Si ngapore. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement 15: 1-179.
2. Wells, D.R., 2007. The birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsular. Vol. II, Passerines. Christopher Helm, London. 800 pp.

For Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), courtship starts with the male arriving at the nesting area. He collects nesting materials, either for a new nest or to repair an old one (above left). While defending his site from other males, he tries to attract a female. Once a female responds, bonding will begin with courtship. There will be stretching of necks and bill pointing skywards (above right). Nuptial plumes and brightly coloured bare parts will be displayed. Mutual preening also occurs, so will bill clapping and loud squawking. Another common display is when one lifts up its wings, draws back its neck and pecks at the other bird.

Following courtship, the herons will proceed to nest building. The male brings nesting materials while the female does the construction. Copulation usually follows when the male mounts the female and precariously balances on her back, using his outstretched wings for balance (above).

According to Mike Tan, “The Grey Herons here started looking ready to mate around July this year (2009) when their legs and bills turn reddish. By August the birds have completed bonding.

“It is also comical to see Grey Herons landing at the wrong nest only to chased off. Apparently there is some authentication. Some password, if you will?”

John Vickerman adds, “Another great series of pictures from you recording your observations of nest behaviour. The mutual preening behaviour consolidates the pair bond, and probably the landing at another pair’s nest may well have had more sinister intentions such as stealing a few twigs for their own nest building - easy pickings if you can get away with it!”

“When seeing a tree full of nests, I was naive to think that all will mate, hatch, fledge at the same time. Well, it doesn’t quite happen that way. Some will be mating, others sitting on their eggs, yet others raising their chicks. All under one roof, so to speak,” adds Mike.

This post is a cooperative effort between NaturePixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.

On three separate occasions Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS had the opportunity to make observations on the nesting behaviour of the Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum cruentatum), as detailed below.

Tambun Interior, Perak, Malaysia - 18th July 2009
“A female flowerpecker collecting nesting material (above). She was peeling strips off the bark of a Kaffir Lime tree (Citrus hystrix, local name limau purut). It appears as though she has returned a number of times from the appearance of the bark.”

Canning Garden Home, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia - 3rd November 2006
“A female flowerpecker peeling strips off the bark of a Pride of India tree (Lagerstroemia sp.) (above). She took pains to collect a lot of material before flying off.”

Tambun, Perak, Malaysia - 1st & 7th June 2008
“A pair of flowerpecker was spotted building a nest on 1st June 2008. Did a follow up visit a week later. On the first visit both partners were just starting to build the nest with the female taking more responsibility. The first picture (above left) shows the female with red moss in the beak about to jump up to the nest. Second picture (above right) shows that she used dried grass as well (in hind sight this could be peelings of bark from various sources). Third picture shows the nest – an overview, one week later, completed (left). It was about 1.7 meters off the ground and 7 cm in length, globular structure with opening at the top. Camouflaged by a dried leaf in front. The pictures below show the close up and longi-section of the nest.”

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
November 2009