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Striped-Tit Babbler’s nest site

on 6th March 2007

On the morning of 25th February 2007, KC Tsang and wife Amy must have been feeling energetic. They took a long trek from Venus Drive car-park to the Ranger’s Station, and from there, to the Central Catchment area. Their walk paid off when they had a pleasant encounter with a pair of Striped Tit Babblers (Macronous gularis) actively building their nest within the dried resam (Dicranopteris linearis) thicket (below left).

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What looked like a mass of dead leaves within the thicket was actually a meticulously constructed nest. It was perfectly camouflaged and if the birds were not seen building it, it would not be detected at all. In the middle of this mass was an entrance. Both birds were busy bringing pieces of dead palm fronds from a pile further down. And every minute or so one of the two birds would appear at the entrance, popped inside and deposited its piece. The moment one left, the other would appear with its piece of dried frond.

The whole morning that KC and Amy were there, the birds were busy lining their nest.

As KC said afterward,”From a photographer’s point of view, the nest site has no distinct unique feature, and to take pictures of the inside of the nest, I would have to borrow camera equipment that is being used for colonoscopy, to thread it through the fern thicket without having to cut a path to it.

“The nest is on the left of the picture, the whole place appears a mess. Well I guess it is a form of camouflage to not attract attention from predators.”

Striped-tit Babbler is supposed to be a common resident. Yet there is hardly any information on it. According to birder Alan OwYong, the last record of nesting was by Ong Kiem Sian many years ago. Our resident field ornithologist Wang Luan Keng says that “this is the earliest nest-building record in my database. There was only one other record in March 2004. A couple more in June and July. The nest is so difficult to spot.”

Image of nesting at top left by KC Tsang, that of the babbler in the nest (top right) is courtesy of Dr Jonathan Cheah Weng Kwong – see comment.

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

Other posts by YC Wee

5 Responses

  1. Thank you for any other informative blog. Where else may I get that kind of information written in such a perfect means? I have a venture that I am simply now working on, and I have been at the look out for such information.

  2. Have you ever considered about including a little bit more than just
    your articles? I mean, what you say is fundamental and all.
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  3. Thank you for sharing. I was conducting surveys yesterday and sighted 2 pin-striped tit-babblers collecting old-brown pieces of fish-tail fern, they were then flying into some low-lying trees behind the fish-tail fern but I couldn’t see exactly where they were taking them.

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