The Bulbul Nest

Because of a typhoon passing across Japan, it's been raining hard since early morning and pretty windy at times. The bulbul nestlings, tightly packed in the tiny nest, are all soaked. The parent birds are also quite wet. It is harder for the parents to find food on rainy days. I hope the storm will pass in a short while.

The Bulbul Nest, Aug 10, 2010

This was taken just a few hours ago. They must be really hot with all five of them packed snugly in the small nest!

The Bulbul Nest, Tues Aug. 10, 2010

By the way, the spot indicated by the yellow arrow is where the nest is. right outside our kitchen window.

The Bulbul nest, Aug 9, 2010

There seem to be five nestlings in this roughly^built and tilted nest! They are asleep most of the time. But their eye lids are developing via the phenomenon called necrosis, in which part of the cells or tissues die or slothed away. At the same time the feathers lining the eyes, which are equivalent to our eyelashes, are forming.

My biggest concern is whether the frail nest would last till they fledge.....

The Bulbul Nest. Aug 8, 2010

The nestlings are doing great today. They've grown much over just one day. Now eye slits are forming. The eyelids should appear in a day or two. They sleep well, eat well and that's about all they do now. Interestingly, the nestlings hardly give begging calls. They are extremely quiet, although they shake their heads vigorously when a parent bird alights. This is probably an adaptation not to attract predators.

Just outside our window (2)

I knew the chicks hatched a few days ago, but waited until yesterday to remove the screen. There seem to be at least three nestlings, which are still naked and with their eyes closed.

Just outside the window (1)

Around mid July, I noticed a pair of Japanese Bulbuls started to build a nest in a tree just outside of our kitchen window. Overjoyed, I set up all the video equipment by the window. Then, I found out there was a BIG problem lying ahead of me. The screen window was stuck firmly to the window sill. It seemed impossible to get it out of the way without disturbing the nesting pair considerably.

We decided to wait until chicks hatched. By then, the pair should become tanacious enough and would not abandon their nest.

So, we waited.