A pair of Olive backed sunbirds has decided to build their nest right outside our corridor!
讲鸟话 has double meaning in our household (literally bird-talk, I cannot use TCSS as a bit crude for kids haha).
The past few weeks have been an amazing journey as we watch our tenants build and nurture their family.
(Above photo taken 2 days ago)
We suspect the chicks are only 4 or 5 days old, we had heard some soft chirps from the nest.
Wow, not one but two chicks!
The weaker one is always in the shadow. The alpha will always pop out when it sensed food is around.
They grow fast, are always hungry (and getting noisier haha), and we heard the chicks will fly off in 3 to 4 weeks time.
(Two weeks earlier)
Mummy Bird was patiently incubating day in day out, she only flew off occasionally to feed. She was so tactical we only realised her “camping” after two days.
We were so impressed that we gave our tenants a hashtag #skb小鸟 (skb = SengKangBabies). Follow us on our Instagram for the latest bird story.
(Roughly 4 weeks ago)
We woke up to find the nest on the floor! We felt so sorry for the hardworking birds, I quickly improvised and tie the nest back to a sturdier stem. We waited and waited, the couple came back to inspect and certify the nest after 3 days.
(Research told us that it is common for Olive backed sunbirds to leave their nest alone up to 7 days after completion)
Problem was our nest dropped and was never really completed, it is smaller than usual. Feels like a 5-room to 3-room downsize, and we are worried the chicks will have lesser space to manoeuver.
Hardworking Mum multitasking, from building nest to incubating to feeding and now bodyguard.
We suspect they are borrowing twigs, barks and souvenirs from neighbours pots and plants haha 🙂
Is that tissue paper for the inner lining? Quite elaborate and intrinsic, a masterpiece of a nest.
(Video taken 5 weeks ago)
Please watch the amazing nest builder in action, (Video Link) : Busy Olive Backed Sunbird parent building nest
(03 March 2016)
And this was how it all started, we first spotted this handsome bird outside our corridor. It got accustomed to us and started weaving. We found it unbelievable for a bird to settle so close to us, what a good learning opportunity and experience for kids.
Did some image research and realised this is the Olive Backed sunbird, the one with blue chest is male. This species of birds are very common in South East Asia. (Female only yellow)
Our little bird story continues, and we hope generations of Olive Backed sunbirds will recycle our humble nest.
Interested in birds, checkout BESG blog 🙂
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* Updated 2016 Apr 15 (Video link)
0.20 – house keeping yucks!
0.40 – Fledging, stretch
1.01 – hummingbird-like hovering!
*Update 2017 Mar Season 2 link **
Wow so lucky your family has this up close and personal views with the new family! It’s really interesting and thank you for documenting it down so I can share it with my children too!
Ting recently posted…Singapore Science Centre: “Seeing Heat!” Show
We are thrilled, Ting 🙂
To see the busy parents build a nest from scratch, eggs hatched (ok we did not witness this segment), the chicks, the whole cycle. Amazing nature!
My girls will love your post, especially my 7 year old. Amazed by the pics of how the nest is formed, great shots!
Thank you Ling.
The nest is the first thing and last thing I see (and listen to) before I close our door 🙂
Interesting experience for us too.
Such lovable birdies! I am sure your kids must be learning so many things by observing them, by caring for them. Looking forward to more updates on the birdies.
No “caring” yet, Shub.
The Mum is very apprehensive when we get too near 🙂
You got some good photos of the birds building their nest there. Olive backed sunbird are pretty. We had a family of pigeons living at our aircon ledge, right behind the compressors, which isn’t very healthy with their droppings and all. We had to get bird specialists (can you believe there’s actually such occupation?) to remove them.
Michelle recently posted…This One Is For SAHM Who Wants To Contribute Financially To Her Family
Pigeons dropping near aircon, sounds toxic !
In contrast, our Olive backed sunbird seems to maintain its nest quite well.
Haha.. Why did the bird choose to build their nest at your corridor I wonder… The saying “Birds of the same kind flock together”… :p KIDDING!!
Bumble Bee Mum recently posted…Future World @ ArtScience Museum Singapore
Seriously no idea haha 🙂
I suspect they might have a second or third “condo’ (backup) somewhere nearby. They keep flying between two or three blocks 🙂
My kids will love this! Definitely a good science trip for them. Thanks for sharing.
The kids could not resist peeping into the nest day in and out, I need to constantly remind them to keep a distance from the birds.
Am worried the chick might be stressed 🙂
so nice to see the bird building it’s nest!! I have been following your Instagram and it seems this is your no. 5 in the family!
Phoebe
Bpdgtravels
Phoebe recently posted…Rock Climbing @ ROCKWORLD
You can say that again Phoebe haha 🙂
Love the way you have captured that video and for kids it is surely an exciting thing to see a bird making their nest.
Pooja Kawatra recently posted…Nourish your skin naturally- Olive Oil Skincare!
I hope so too, Pooja. The journey has been nothing short of spectacular, thus far 🙂
I have been following the ‘bird’ story since you posted it on Instagram, now finally get to meet the chicks! So so precious and memorable to witness the nest building, the hatching and now its infancy stage. Thanks for sharing this educational sighting with us.
Superb educational journey for us too Angeline!
As a bonus for the kids , we have been following up with Youtube research too haha
Cute and lovely new neighbours! The kids must be so thrilled to watch them grow day by day..
Ai Sakura recently posted…Bub & Me: Vet for A Day @ Clinic For Pets
Not only for kids, Ai. Even I am excited to watch the birds settle in 🙂
Oh my god!I stumbled onto this post while researching… on these birds! They chose to build a nest on my mom’s potted plant as well. I love how you described what your mom did because… my mom and husband did the same! From being a fixer to protector and all. The nest was really flimsy so my husband tied a net around it so to secure the nest and placed a box tall enough to support the nest. We rescued the babies from the ground a couple of times when they were trying to learn how to fly. It was such an amazing experience! We are left with one baby bird now and we hope it can fly better soon! I was frantically searching for it when I didn’t see it in its nest and yet I hear chirping! hahahha
Thank you for dropping by, we miss our Olives haha 🙂
Although they can be quite loud, it is an amazing experience to see the birds feed, fledged and fly off.
cheers,
Andy