Nesting Behavior of Oriental Pratincole

                                         Fig: Oriental Pratincole chick just after hatching

                                     

Nesting season of Oriental Pratincole is mostly peak summer i.e from April to June The nest is a simple scrap on the ground or  in short grasses on river and reservoir edges. They nests in colony and   also with other species like little terns and small pratincoles.The female lays about 3 to 4 greenish grey densely spotted eggs.Both the parent incubate the eggs for about 18 days.The chicks leave the nest soon after hatching and hide in grasses or stone.Feeding of chicks can hardly be seen as they are under hide.The above photograph is taken at Mahanadi Reservoir of Odisha, India.

Oriental Pratincole

Common name : Oriental Pratincole, large Indian Pratincole
Scientific Name: Glareola maldivarum

The Oriental Pratincole is a beautiful looking  tern-like shorebird with long, pointed wings  and a forked tail.It is a medium-sized bird measuring 25 cm and weighs approximately 75 g. The sexes are alike, with seasonal variation, and juveniles are easily identifed.During breeding season adults have a dark olive-brown crown and nape, paler olive buff on the neck, dark olive-brown back and upper rump The ear coverts are pale creamy buff, and are separated from the chin and throat by a black  line which runs down from below the eye to encircle the throat and separate it from the upper breast,  the underpart is white.The bill is black with a red gape and base of  lower mandible, the eyes are dark brown, and the legs and feet are brownish black.
The species is generally gregarious, occurring in small to large flocks.Oriental Pratincoles eat insects, including dragonflies, cicadas, beetles, moths, ants, termites, locusts, grasshoppers,  flies, bees and wasps, they also eat flying insects.The species usually feeds aerially. The above photograph s taken at the Mahanadi Reservoir in Sambalpur, Odisha, India.

Edible Nest

It's amazing to know that bird nests can be edible.The nest built by a small bird (Aerodramus fuciphagus) of  the swift family  found in South-east Asia  is made of solidified saliva and is edible.It breeds in colonies in caves, in a cleft or in a cliff or sometimes  on a building.These Swiflets often nest in pitch dark caves.They are able to do this by using echolocation, similar to bats.The bracket-shaped nest is white and translucent and is made entirely  of layers of hardened saliva attached to the rock. It measures about 6 cm across with a depth of 1.5 cm and a weight of about 14 grams.

Floating Nest

Building nest out in the water seems to be impracticable but it is a fact.Several birds build nests which are surrounded by water and even floating in water. Birds like Coots build build such type of nests having a foundation of vegetation, which reaches the ground below.Water birds like Grebes build nests which are basically floating on shallow water though they are often anchored at one or two points.However totally floating nest are bulid by Jacanas and Marsh Terns.The floating nests often sinks into the water while the bird
is sitting for incubation, but due to water proof eggs the chicks easily come out without any harm.

Hole Nest in Trees

Holes in dead or alive trees are a good option for  nesting by birds .Fewer birds like the woodpeckers and Barbets excavate their own holes in trees for nest building.Most tree hole nesters make use of the already existing holes in large or small trees.Most common hole nesters are Parrots, common Starlings, Hornbills, Owls, Indian rollers and some flycatchers.The nest in tree holes has the define advantage of protection from predators and weathers.Birds do modify the tree holes like lining with soft materials or mud plastering  in case of Horn bills. However the disadvantage is that due to warm and humid conditions inside the holes there is more chances of avian pests and nest parasites build up.It is a wonder that The Great Indian Hornbill nearly a meter long in size  likes to nest at 20-45 meters up the tree .This means it can only  nest in trees which have a diameter greater than 1-2 meters at that height. As the large trees are fast decreasing in the forests, the existence of the Great Hornbill is now a concern.

Hole Nest in Ground

Very few birds nest within holes in the ground.Nesting in hole  seems to be a better strategy than nesting in the open.We survey around 100,000 eggs and found that non-hole nesters averaged 48% rearing success while hole nesters averaged 74%.The main reasons seems to be eggs within holes in the ground are better protected against adverse environmental conditions and from predators.The hole nests can be  open onto a cliff edge or a vertical edge of a river bank,Road cuttings and those holes in relatively flat ground.Some birds dig the holes themselves and some uses the already existing holes.Birds making this types of nest are green bee eater and all king fishers.Green bee eaters make almost 1 meter hole in flat ground as well as edges to lay their eggs.

Mud Nest

Birds are excellent builders and is natural that they construct their nest using mud as a primary resource. Birds build their nest entirely out of mud or mix in other materials like grass, feathers etc. The most common birds that use mud to make a nest are members of the swallow family. Swallows and Martins all over the world build their hemispherical or retort shaped nests on the edges of cliffs, under the eaves of houses and under the modern bridges. The mud is collected in small pellets and moistened with saliva before being applied to the wall or existing nest.The nests are lined with grass and fetahers to make it comfortable and durable. These nests are generally found in colonies.

Black Naped Monarch Flycatcher Feeding

This is the video of a Black naped Monarch Flycatcher feeding it's chick.This Nest is located on a mango tree near Hirakud Reservoir.

Hanging Nest

Among all nests build by birds , the hanging nests are the most complex nest bulding , an admirable of bird architecture. In indian the hanging nests found are that of Baya weaver and sunbirds. It require great skill by a bird to build such type of nest.The main purpose of such types of nests are protection from predators and adverse climate. These nests generally hung from the tip of a branch or leaf, or suspended between twigs. They are globular or retort-shaped with a single entrance hole. A completed baya nest looks like an upside down flask with a downward tube like pointing entrance .The swollen portion of the nest is the main nesting area or egg chamber.The sunbird nest is build with cobwebs and caterpillar excreta hanging from a tip of a branch or twig.

Cup nest with roof

The cup shaped nest with roof are more advanced than the usual cup nest.They are generally rounded or elliptical in shape and appears like a ball with a side entrance.This type of nest offer more protection to the eggs and chicks than a simple cup nest.These nests are built with grasses, leaves, fibers, small sticks etc.The inner is covered with soft materials to provide more comfort. Birds like Red munia, scally breasted munia, rufous bellied babbler, white munia, rufous winged bushlark etc build this types of nest. The photo above shows the nest of rufous bellied babbler.The nest is found in the vicinity of river Mahanadi in Sambalpur, Orissa, India.

Cup Nest

Fig: Cup nest built by Asian Paradise Flycatcher

The cup shape nest is the 3rd inorder of simple to complex nest In my previous posts I have given information about first two type of nests.The cup shaped nest is more advanced than simple twig nest.This is the most typical form of nest and found in abundant as most flycatchers build this type of nest.The cup shape nest have a clear inside as well as an outside and the inside is lined with softer materials for more comfort.This type of nest also provide more protection for both the eggs and chicks.They are generally build at the forked branch of a tree i.e either "V" or "Y" shaped branch.These nests are build with leaves, grasses, finer twigs sticked together with cobwebs. Birds like Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Monarch Flycatcher, Faintail Flycatcher, Humming birds, Bulbul,Oriole, Drongo etc build cup shaped nest.

Nesting Behaviour of Birds: No Nest

The most simple form of nest is no nest at all.Many birds donot build any nest.They either lay eggs directly on the bare ground or rock surface. Some make simple scrap on the ground to lay eggs. It is observed that birds who leaves the nest soon after hatching, generally build this type of nest or more accurately they don't need complex nest at all.Nightjars lay their two eggs directly onto the ground.Birds like Plovers, Pratincoles, Lapwings, Little tern make simple scrap to lay eggs. As the eggs are on open surface they generally camoufladge with their surrounding and there by protected from predators. The picture above is a Little ringed Plover Nest with egg on open ground near a river bank.

Nesting Behaviour of Birds

Nesting Behavior of Birds

There is a common misconception that Birds build nests to live in it. It is not true. The fact is that birds build nest to lay eggs, raise their chicks, protect them from predators and adverse climate. Birds are notable for their instinct to build nest like humans and other animals. The nest varies from no nest (e.g Pratincoles) to very complex nest ( Baya weaver).

The nesting behavior of birds, the shape and size of nest varies according to their habitat, climate, breeding season, size and physiology of bird and amount of threat by predators. Broadly the nests can be divided into 12 categories.

1. No nest/ scrap nest

2. Simple twig nest

3. Cup nest

4. Cup nest with roof

5. Ball nest

6. Hanging / very complex nest

7. Mud nest

8. Hole nest in ground

9. Hole nest in tree

10. Floating nest

11. Edible nest

In my upcoming posts I will deal details about the individual nests.Birds are notable for their ability to build their nests most skillfully.

Sunbird, The Nesting

Nesting Season of Sunbird varies from February to June.Both the Purple and purple-rumped Sunbird has similar nesting behavior.I have discussed in detail how they build their nest in my post " Sunbird, The nest". The female generally lays 2 to 3 eggs of grayish color with brown spots.The female incubates the egg for a period of about two weeks.The young birds are fed by both the parents.The chicks feed almost 3 times more than their body weight.It is my personal observation that both the parent visit the nest almost 40 times in an hour to feed the chicks. Fledging period is almost 12 days.It is a great pleasure to watch the chicks coming out of the nest and jumping from branch to branch and the parents following them.

Purple Sunbird

Image via Wikipedia

Purple Sunbird
Species : Nectarinia asiatica
Family : Nectarinidae
Size : Smaller than sparrow

This is another species of Sunbird commonly found in Asiatic region.The only difference here is the color of the male. The breeding male is metallic black with a smooth shiny surface which ranges from green to purple . An orange patch is found on the armpit.Female are same are olive above and yellowish below. In both the species i.e purple sunbird and purple rumped sunbird the females look similar.For more information please read my post " The Purple Rumped Sunbird".

Sunbird, The Nest

Fig. The female Sunbird building the Nest

The nest of sunbirds are architectural marvel. It is generally suspended from a branch at a height of around 10ft from ground. It looks like an oval or oblong purse-shaped pouch with a hooded side-entrance.The collection of nest material and nest building are performed by the female alone with the male only accompanying the female.Before building the nest both male and female first select the appropriate branch of a tree.The female hover around it for a inspection and one can easily confused it with a humming bird. The nest materials consists of soft grasses, dry leaves, barks, pieces of paper and cobwebs.Cobwebs are generally used as a glue material. The nest is about 300 to 600 mm long from tail to tip.The diameter is around 50 to 70 mm at the broadest part.The outer layer consists of coarse materials like dried leaves, barks and even paper and polythene pieces.The inner layers consists of finer materials like cotton fibres or silky substances of seeds and flowers.The nest I observed mostly. The interior of the nest contains the egg chamber which is the thickest portion of the nest i.e 30mm thick.The interior gives utmost comfort to the chicks to grow.On a an average a nest is built with in 10 to 15 days.

Purple-rumped Sunbird

Fig. This is the female and male purple-rumped sunbird

Purple-rumped Sunbird

Species Nectarinia zeylonica

Family Nectarinidae

Size About 10 cm

Purple-rumped Sunbird is a colorful and very active tiny little bird.This bird is endemic to Indian subcontinent and a common resident breeder in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Purple-rumped Sunbirds are smaller in size i.e less than 10 cm long.The male and female looks different.The males have a dark metallic maroon upper side with a blue-green crown which glitter on sunlight. Metallic violet patches are also found around throat and only visible at certain angle.The female has a white throat followed by yellowish breast.The upper side is olive or brownish. They have medium-length thin down-curved bills and tubular tongues which are made for nectar feeding. This photograph is taken at Debrigarh wildlife sanctuary , Sambalpur, India.

Sunbird

Fig. This is a purple rumped sunbird

Sunbirds are colourful, attractive small passerine birds. and readily enter gardens where flowering plants are planted to attract them. The sunbirds and spiderhunters belongs to family Nectariniidae. The family is distributed throughout Africa, southern Asia and northern Australia.The sunbirds have two close relatives, the hummingbirds of the Americas and the honeyeaters of Australia. The resemblances are due to similar nectar-feeding lifestyle.There are more than 100 species of sunbird in 15 genera.Two most common species seen in India are Purple Sunbird (Nectarinia asiatica) and Purple-rumped Sunbird (Nectarinia zeylonica).When one sees them feeding nectar on flight can easily be confused it as Humming bird.However we have no Humming birds here in India.Sunbirds are frequent visitors to gardens where flowering plants are present.They also built their nest in backyard gardens .

Plani Prinia Feeding

The above photographs are showing the Plain Prinia parents feeding the chicks.I managed to locate the nest inside a bush at about 2 ft from ground.Observed it for almost 15 days. By the time the bird get comfortable with my presence. I waited and watched the bird feeding the chicks entire day.Finally got some feeding shots.You can clearly see the bird holding a grasshopper and feeding it to the chicks.The chicks are voracious feeders.They eat almost 3 to 5 times of their body weight.The parents keep the nest clean by clearing the droppings inside the nest.After 12 days of hatching finally the chicks left the nest.This is the beauty of nature and beauty of bird watching.Yhis photograph is taken with a 200 mm lens with Nikon F3 camera.

Small Minivet

This is one of the fresh photograph of female small Minivet feeding the chicks. I have posted earlier about this bird on my post Fire on the wings.You can see in this picture how the nest is built on the fork of a branch and almost camouflage with the tree.Even the chicks are not easily visible. This is how the bird protects their chicks from predators. I observe this bird for days feeding the chicks high on a tree. Finally got a chance to take some photographs.Enjoy this beauty of nature. In this new year lets unite to save these wonderful birds so that our future generation will able to see them.