Tough birds----Where there is a will there is a way

Before I knew it, my Red-whiskered Bulbul neighbours who just lost their chicks last month had built a new nest and hatched their eggs again.

 

I only  realized what was going on when I saw the parents bringing home small insects again.

The nest is hidden very well in a big pine tree in the garden and to this day I am not able to locate it. I decided not to disturb the chicks and just observe the parents from inside my house.

Most of the time, the two birds would go out hunting together. If one caught insects first, it would wait for the other somewhere high up just outside my garden. 

If one was out of sight, the other would make very loud calls on top of a small tree. 

They always fed the chicks in turns, usually mum went in first, while daddy was waiting nearby on guard. 

Gradually, the insects they brought back got bigger and bigger.

One day, I even saw big Stick Insects! 

The two birds had been in and out every 10-20 minutes everyday for over a week, no matter if it was boiling hot or was pouring down with rain. With such dedicated parents, the nestlings must have been growing fast. I am sure that this time these two determined birds will be able to bring up a new family very soon.  

Nesting Red-whiskered Bulbuls---nest building

My neighbours----a pair of Red-whiskered Bulbuls, are nesting again. In contrast to the swallows, which use the same nest every year, the Red-whiskered Bulbuls build new nests every year in a different location. This year is no exception.

Luckily for me, this year the nest is located near my window. It gave me a great pleasure to witness the team work of the birds.

When I realized what was going on, the nest was almost completed. 

What seemed to be a perfect nest to me apparently was not good enough for the birds. It took them another two days to perfect the job, which gave me the chance to observe them.

The female was the dominant one in nest constructing. 

She came in and out bringing back roots

(one of their favourite nesting building materials)

of different shapes and length.

I guess because it is the female who will spend two weeks incubating the eggs, she has to make sure that the nest is comfortable. 

Everything she put in the nest had to be comfort tested several times to ensure that the nest was cozy in every angle, 

before leaving for another trip.

The male, on the other hand, was by no means a lazy partner.  His job was a “bodyguard”. He not only accompanied the female on each trip back and forth from the nest but was also a “look-out”.

While the female was working inside the nest, the male either sat on a high-point watching (the nest is at the bottom right of the picture),

or just stood by the nest, 

usually singing loudly( the female is inside the nest---see the orange colour on the right hand side of the male). 

It sounded like he was reassuring the female that everything was fine and she can concentrate on her work.

Since the completion, the female has been spending most of her time in the nest, with occasional breaks. 

The male meanwhile is not far away, sometimes I can hear him singing in the garden. Hopefully, we shall see some chicks in about two weeks time.