“The nesting behavior of the omnipresent Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis) is markedly different from the Baya Weaver (Ploceus philippinus) in that in the former, nest material gathering and nest building duties are performed by the female alone, with the male manifesting by the side singing a hastening song in an effort to hasten the female to complete their love nest soon.
“During the infantile stage of nest building process, the female may select from a range of building materials like cobwebs and apply it as natural glue to facilitate nest assembly. During this process the female often perform in-flight hovering act just before arriving at the nest, presumably to obtain a clear perspective of where to insert the natural glue for best placement. At the same time, the male may be observed to hover around the nest, again presumably to exert its male dominance on the female to complete the nest. Images attached show female returning to nest with trailing cobwebs and cobwebs in beak (above left) and male bird hovering before nest (above right). Perhaps it is this hovering in-flight behavior of these pin-sized feathers that some may easily mistaken them to be humming birds.”
Dr Jeff Lim
Singapore
19th May 2009