Earlier posts: 1. Introduction; 2. nesting materials; 3. Nest taking shape; 4. Lining egg chamber; 5. Finishing touches to nest; 6. Pre-egg laying days; 7. Has an egg been laid?.
The next day after the female Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum) stayed the night in the nest (15th January), video surveillance was made to find out whether she will continue to stay the night for the next so many days, as she would be needed to incubate the egg until it hatches.
Video clips made on the morning (2 hours, see video above) and afternoon (2.5 hours, see video below) of the next day (16th January) showed that she continued to make regular visits.
During the morning visits she was seen bring nesting materials a number of times. Obviously the nest needed repairs. The time she spent inside the nest varied between 2 minutes to 13 minutes. Time outside the nest varied between 5 to 15 minutes. For both surveillances, the male was nowhere to be seen.
It was assumed that the female would remain inside the nest at night. Thus no serious efforts were made to confirmed this assumption.
On 17th January a 2.5 hours video surveillance was made at 3.45 pm ending at 6.15pm. The movements of the female in and out of the nest followed the earlier pattern. She still brought nesting materials occasionally. Again, the male was nowhere to be seen. See edited video below.
There was no surveillance the following day (18th January) as the female was still seen around the nest.
YC Wee
Singapore
23rd January 2018
