It was an awesome find in Kemensah my ole hunt. I have not been birding here since August 2016 With the mushrooming of so many chalets and recreation operators along the river front the bird life here has somewhat dwindled except the common birds. The situation is made worse by mountain bikers and motocross riders which uses the laterite trail as their playground during the weekends.
But then from time to time you can have some exceptional find.
Back to the nest of the Spiderhunter. The end April 2017 I believe the bird is still hatching an egg or two as the bird stayed awhile inside. Like the Little Spiderhunter they make their nest under large hardy leaf.
Inside the outer base is made from fibrous roots and twigs. The nest is a concave shape contraption with a 6 inches opening and 15 inches in depth. Inside is an another round nest made from finer patchwork as you can see in picture 2 above. By the look of the leave which starting to tear; I am worried it may not last if the weather is unfavorable. Hope it will survive...................
My second visitation was in 2nd week of May 2017. Good news I sighted the parent bringing in spider to feed the hatchling. See photo below. The interval of feeding can be as long as 30 minutes a time.
The third weekend on 21th May; the chick was sighted inside the nest and the frequency of feeding increase to 10-15 minutes. The chick has sprouted spiky feathers.... another week or two it will fledged. The trail was cleared.
Luckily the banana tree was not disturbed. Picture below the parent tending and feeding the chick. It stayed less that 5-10 seconds. I think its a single parent.
Luckily the banana tree was not disturbed. Picture below the parent tending and feeding the chick. It stayed less that 5-10 seconds. I think its a single parent.
On the last weekend 27th May I was there again to check the progress of the nesting. It was still intact but empty. There was sign of meddling but I would hope the bird had fledged successfully............
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