A tale of two birds that we find at Thane

Learn more about a bird that stitches and another bird than weaves

On a morning walk at the Festival Plaza this week, I was at the outfield of the games arena. Walking on the edge of the grass bounded by trees, I found a bird's nest lying on the grass.

The nest had no eggs or hatchlings, and I picked it up to look inside. It was a neat little nest made of two large browning leaves. The tailorbird making the nest had sewn the two leaves together and lined the interiors with a mixture of silk cotton and coconut fibre. A very impressive feat for a tiny bird using only it's beak as a tool.

 I was mesmerised by the sealing of the leaf seams along two sides. There were no gaps between the leaves, and it was amazing how a tailor bird crafted the pouch-like nest I had found.

Tailor birds make their small nests by stitching, riveting, matting and lacing leaves and fibres from their surroundings. They pierce delicately through leaves for incisions to prevent rotting. The birds pass the fibres through rivets, and such work has the appearance of stitches. 

You can more easily hear the tailorbird than see it as I have not yet seen it at Urbania and the nest I found is my first evidence of this bird. It is a small sparrow-sized bird with light green feathers on its sides and back. It makes nests in thick foliage and with an upward-opening to camouflage the tailorbird chicks inside.

You could perhaps find tailor birds at Urbania in the numerous thickets at the garden reservation north of Azziano and in the dense scrub and tree growth along the water pipeline. 

You are more likely to hear the sound cheeup-cheeup-cheeup that they make, rather than see them inside the foliage. 

Spotting their nests is difficult as tailorbirds camouflage their nest well inside dense vegetation and you may not see a nest until it is on the ground like I found one.

The second bird I want to highlight is the baya weaver bird that is an expert-weaver. Weaver birds are common across India, and we have them at Thane in the fringes of forests or along Thane creek.  

I found a large number of weaver bird nests on a Palmyra Palm tree about two years ago at Pankhande village on the edge of Thane. This tree is on an internal road that leads to Yeoor Hills and has few residents, with weekend homes a common feature in the locality. The tall palm tree had a flourishing colony of weaver birds which you could stand and watch as the birds would fly into their nests with food for chicks and fly out again in search of more food. The weaver birds abandon their nests after the season, and sometimes other birds occupy those nests and rear their brood.

The male baya weaver bird makes a nest out of paddy straw, palm fronds and grass and the female weaver bird helps only towards the end of the nest making. A weaver bird may make up to 500 trips to complete a retort-shaped nest that hangs freely from tree branches. Weaver birds make colonies of nests in clusters like the one I found at Pankhande village had more than 50 nests.

Baya weaver bird that has no tools can make a nest by weaving and knotting the plant material with its beak. The nest has a bottom opening design that prevents eggs inside from falling out. The parent birds approach the central nesting chamber from the narrow tube at the bottom. The nesting section for egg-laying has side access for the parent birds and thus holds the eggs.

As the weaver bird nests are on trees, they are inaccessible to predators. Sometimes these nests are over water which is second protection against predators. Weaver birds also use thorny trees to deter nest visitors.

Male weaver birds make nests woo female weaver birds. When a male bird has half-finished his nest, he invites female birds to visit his nest, and he completes the nest only when a female approves it. 

On pairing, the two genders co-operate to complete the nest for the female weaver birds to lay eggs. Weaver birds are polygamous, so the males make multiple nests and raise families with more than one female weaver bird.

I find the nests of the tailorbird and weaver bird great examples of architecture and craft. Both these bird species rely on locally available materials to make nests just out of their beaks. Their nests are very sturdy and protect young ones in infancy from predators. The used nests decompose as they contain biodegradable materials.

I have discovered a resort near Urbania where you can go and spot tailor birds, weaver birds and other birds. Check out the list of birds at Aqua Mountain Eco-Tourism Retreat (http://aquamountain.in/bird.php), very interesting place that has three fish-filled lakes within the property. The resort also has fruit plantations and offers the opportunity to harvest the fruits for your meals. It is just about an hour by car from Urbania.

Spotting tailor birds, weaver birds and other birds are also possible within Thane at Yeoor Hills and the wooded areas in the vicinity of the Thane creek. You can familiarise yourself about birds of Thane through Brahmand resident Seema Rajeshirke's video that features all birds of Thane. Use this link to watch the award-winning movie, Window Birding shot entirely from the window of the narrator.

 

Window Birding's commentary is in Marathi, and the movie has English subtitles for those who can't follow Marathi. Watch this film with your family, and I am sure the children and adults will all enjoy this short, thirty-minute film. The endearing film depicts the intimate relationship between Seema Rajeshirke and the different birds that visit her through the season to feed on grains, fruits and water she leaves at her window ledge. The commentary is interesting, and by the end of the movie, you would have learnt about all birds at Thane and become a local bird expert. Happy birding.