Vol 2 No 2
Dec 95

Bird Migration and the role of Sungei Buloh

Our Baby Tailorbird 		  Our Baby Tailorbird

Our "Baby", as we would call it, was found alone on the ground in the Park in a damaged nest after a storm. Baby was too weak to even open its mouth when we first had it. Chicken pellets, mixed with vitamins and water, were fed to the bird with a stick. Baby survived, and soon became a feeding machine! The mouth, with the clearly evident gap, was all we could see with its constant chirp for food. The bird would only excrete after being fed, naturally while the mother should be around to clean up the nest. The excreta would come neatly in a bag which could be easily picked up and thrown away so it does not soil the nest—the wonder of nature!

After a week, it weighed about 10g. The feathers were fully out of the follicles and it could walk around the nest.

Baby, as it turned out to be, is a Common Tailorbird. When it grew too big for its tiny nest, it was ringed (identification band around the leg) and put in a 2m x lm x lm cage so that it could learn to fly while kept safe from predation. After a month, it was released. For a while, Baby could be seen around the cage pecking at the worms we left for him. Soon, it stopped hovering around and would disappear for the most part of the day. After about 5 weeks, Baby did not return again. We were glad for its freedom and hope it would one day come back to visit,... with its family!

For more about Common Tailorbird (Vol 6 No 3, Dec 99)
   
© Sungei Buloh Nature Park