Search

Spectacled Spiderhunter’s nesting behaviour

on 6th September 2015

“I was fortunate to watch the nesting behaviour of a pair of Spectacled Spiderhunter (Arachnothera flavigaster).

“It was 11.20am and I just left the forest reserve and decided to explore the fringe of the reserve where there is overgrown secondary jungle within abandoned plantations.

“I heard a spiderhunter call and located the pair. They were exploring the underside of leaves. Over the next 15 minutes I tried to offer them the space they needed while maintaining observations. They were aware of my presence but continued looking for a nesting site.

“They explored 5 different trees; a Rubber tree (top), a Ficus (above), a broad leaf tree (below), a bamboo clump and another smaller leaf tree.

“Most inspections were at heights of 5-8 meters. Both pairs were involved in the inspection but I had the distinct impression that one bird lead and made most of the calls (a male possibly, saying ‘let’s look here’ or ‘how about these leaves’). Calls were made almost throughout the nest searching period; often the classical two syllable ‘chack-chack’ but occasionally a single syllable HERE (amplified, with noise reduction). The sonogram-waveform is shown below.

“In literature these birds have a preference for coconut/palm fronds and rubber leaves sewn together (see Wells 2007, The birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula: Vol. 2 and Cheke & Mann 2001, A Guide to the Sunbirds, Spiderhunters, Sugarbirds and Flowerpeckers of the World).

“I lost them as they moved their inspection into denser part of the jungle and I had my fill of mosquito bites. But I hope to return and see if I can spot a nest in construction.

“Although nests are generally reported in the earlier parts of the year (April) there are reports of dependent fledglings in September and November (Wells 2007).”

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
8th August 2015

Location: Kledang-Sayong Forest Reserve, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Habitat: Fringe of forest reserve with overgrown secondary jungle

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

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories
Archives

Overall visits (since 2005)

Live visitors
882
19844
Visitors Today
51758846
Total
Visitors

Clustrmaps (since 2016)