The earlier posts on the nesting of the Common Tailorbirds (Orthotomus sutorius maculicollis) are found in the following links: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
“The second juvenile that fledged did not do well. It was less mature. I spotted it in the early morning, of the 13th June when it fledged, on the ground 1.5 meters from the nest. The predominant carer was the adult female but the male also fed it. It could not fly up to any low vantage point.
“When I came back from lunch it had been encouraged by parents to move ~7 meters to were the other juvenile was located but still on the ground (quite a walk for a first day fledged tiny juvenile (see Part 1). It was still being fed on the ground (see Part 2).
“It unfortunately look injured at the side of the neck (see Part 3).
“By evening the parents had decreased their feeding. They brought prey and were using it as ‘bait’, trying to encourage this 2nd juvenile to fly up. We lost sight of the juvenile late in the evening (6.30pm) and hope it made it. I suspect it did as was perky little fellow. Need to keep any eye out to see if there are two juveniles in my neighbourhood.
“One interesting observation is that while the nest and juveniles was in the garden the parents would only forage in my neighbouring gardens. Once they had left my garden (to the vacant house across the road) the adults are now seen frequently foraging in our garden. This is possibly a protective mechanism to avoid attention to the nest and juveniles.”
Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Canning Garden Home, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
10-13th June 2012