“During a birding excursion to Taman Negara Sungai Relau in Pahang, we came across a total of three nests of the Black-naped Monarch (Hypothymis azurea) located at the edge of the forest not too far from each other. Two of the nests were relatively close to the jeep track while the third was exactly above the side of the track.
“We had short observations of the third nest during our 3 day stay (01–03/05/09) and noted that both parent birds took turn to feed the three chicks. Most of the time, the parent bird will wait until the arrival of the other parent before flying away. On a few occasions, the parent bird will fly away after feeding and leave the nest unattended. Whenever a parent bird arrives at the nest, it will usually utter a soft call note and the chicks will stretch out their necks in anticipation of food. After each feeding, the parent bird will remove a fecal sac before going off to hunt again.”
Choy Wai Mun
Penang, Malaysia
7th May 2009
Note:
The food brought to the chicks looks like grasshoppers. Also, note that the nest is lightly covered with bryophytes.