Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Mystery of the Missing Baby Bulbuls – A New Pictorial Story



My discovery of a bird’s nest in my backyard and the subsequent developments were narrated in a pictorial story last month [See: http://drsnprasadmysoreindia.blogspot.in/2012/06/birds-nest-and-its-hapless-habitants.html].  After the quick and tragic end to the story, little did I anticipate that I would be reliving it over a much longer period, this time with a mysterious rather than a tragic ending.   Here is what happened, again supported by a faithful photographic documentation.

My daughter and grandson had joined me again for an extended summer holiday, and their curiosity had led them one day to peep inside the flower plant where they had made their earlier discovery.  This time they saw a brand new empty nest, a little deeper and higher inside than last time, ready for occupation.  It was early morning on 26 June.  When they showed it to me, I again reacted instinctively with camera in hand and shot my first picture of the nest.  We kept looking for further developments discretely every now and then.  Here is a picture of the empty nest I shot on 29 June, fully ready for occupation:

[Many of the pictures shown here are in high resolution and can be blown up to their full size by clicking on a picture and opening it in a separate window]


It was delightfully unsurprising for us to discover a lone, beautifully mottled egg inside the nest the same afternoon.  Below is my first picture of it.  Not only was the egg by itself a splendid sight, equally so was the marvelously intricate structure of the nest itself that I had a chance to examine for the first time.


Not unexpectedly, we found a second egg beside the first one the very next morning.  Here they are, lying side by side in the dull early morning light.


When I saw the two beautiful eggs together I was strongly tempted to snatch one of them and preserve it as a memento in my showcase.  In the light of my earlier experience I must have rationalized that it would not be a horrendous loss to the avian community if I did so.  However, it didn’t take me more than a moment to exorcise this devil in me and let nature play out its own plot.

We had a feeling that our as yet unseen avian visitors were familiar with our household and could even be the same duo that had set up home in our premises earlier.  Our suspicions were confirmed by our first sighting of a red whiskered bulbul close to the nest as captured in the following picture:


Here is an ultra-zoom picture of the visitor taken soon after, perhaps contemplating its next move in a not too friendly mood:


For the next ten days in a row, we observed one of the parent birds sitting in the nest and incubating the two eggs, while the other bird kept watch and vigil nearby most of the time.  Unlike the previous occasion, none of their avian friends were ever in attendance.  Also, our backyard always exuded a serene atmosphere, with the birds strangely quiet most of the time.  Our knowledge of ornithology was far too elementary to identify the two birds by their respective gender, but this hardly mattered.  Here is one of scores of pictures I took of one of the parents snugly inside its nest warming up the eggs during this long incubation period:


It was on the evening of 10 July that we got a glimpse of one of the freshly hatched baby birds cutely embracing its unborn sibling still in its nest.  Here is this intensely tender picture:


Unfortunately we couldn’t get to see the hatching process itself, nor could we see any of the broken pieces of the eggshell after the baby had come out.  Presumably, one of the parent birds had deftly cleaned up the debris.  This whole thing was repeated the next day when the second egg was also hatched.  We would have dearly loved to steal a glimpse of how the baby was coming out, hopefully even being able to capture it on video, but this was not to be.  Such a video clip can however be viewed from a well-known source, the Internet Bird Collection, at: http://ibc.lynxeds.com/video/red-whiskered-bulbul-pycnonotus-jocosus/red-whiskered-bulbul-parent-feeding-cleaning-babies

Here is a picture of one of the parent birds apparently in the process of hatching the other egg even as it was taking care of the newborn one:


As could be expected, it was the very next day that the second egg also hatched and I was able to take the following picture with the two baby bulbuls with their ‘arms’ around each other:


The parent birds had intensified their vigil and rarely did we see one bird not watching nearby while the other one was crouched over the baby birds in the nest, not only protecting them but presumably also, feeding them.  Rarely did we get an inkling of how this was being done.  We desisted from observing our visitors too closely and too frequently or intrusively, fearing that we might disturb the natural processes where human interference is so alarmingly on the increase in our modern ‘civilized’ world.
 
Occasionally we observed both the parent birds next to each other on a cable overhead while the baby birds were left to themselves in the nest.  Here is a picture of one such situation:


Here is a picture of the two baby bulbuls when left alone, with one of them apparently hollering hoarsely for something, may be for mama bird, or for food or both, while its sibling appears to be blissfully asleep:


Early next morning I caught one of the birds overseeing the nest and its little sleepy habitants:


It was not until 24 hours later (on 13 July) that I got an opportunity to shoot a picture of one of the birds holding some food with its beak in readiness to feed the babies.  Seen in the following picture, the food appears to be a dead grasshopper.  This was the only time I could catch anything close to the actual feeding of the babies.  Of course it must have been happening frequently, without any luck for us.


The next picture shows the two baby birds lying next to each other with unmistakable signs of feathers.  In our earlier experience with the birds the little ones had fallen prey to a predator long before this stage had been reached.  This gave us some hope that they could survive such an eventuality this time.  My initial hopelessness had made way for some guarded optimism.


Though we were not lucky enough to observe the actual feeding process, we saw the parent birds frequently carrying something or other dangling from their beaks, obviously intended for the babies to eat.  Here is one such instance captured while a parent bird was perched on the overhead cable:


The next picture shows the babies in the nest, one of them in the act of crawling over the other, both in excellent shape.


Now comes the mystery side of my story.  The following is my last picture of the baby bulbuls huddled in their nest, with both parents standing guard somewhat as usual on the cable overhead.


I shot this picture just before I had my lunch on 14 July, just under five days after the first egg had hatched.  In retrospect, when I now reflect on this picture, the babies appeared to have such well-developed wings that I felt it would be a matter of just a few days before they would be on their own and be able to even leave the nest.  However, it was still a great surprise for me to discover an empty nest later in the afternoon that day.
 
My initial reaction was one of shock and sorrow just as on the previous occasion, but I realized very soon that the two situations were quite different.  Here I was staring (see picture below) at a nest that was in as good a condition as when we first noticed it and at any time thereafter, with no tell-tale signs of any intrusive activity.  In contrast, what I had seen on the last occasion was a nest that had been violently attacked and trampled upon, with its hapless habitants almost certainly killed and carried away.  Here I got the impression that the babies had been helped away to a safer place by the parents sometime that afternoon without any of us in the household noticing the act.


So, now I have a mystery behind the missing bulbuls.  Unlike last time, circumstantial evidence indicates that they survived and may have been helped to a safer location by the parents who were seen going about their daily business for the next 2-3 days as if nothing untoward had happened.  However, ornithology experts may have a different and a less optimistic explanation.  For my part, for sheer lack of understanding, I would like to trust my instincts for once and assume a happy ending to my story.  Sometimes ignorance can be bliss! 

29 comments:

ಎ ವಿ ಜಿ ವಿಚಾರಲಹರಿ said...

I am not sure about your hypothesis of what might have happened. Do these birds have a habit of changing the location of their young ones for safety like cats? I have not heard of it. I remember to have read somewhere that even crows prey upon the young ones.

malini said...

Its simply awesome. Its really a wonderful narrative about scientific observations well supported with pictures. Thank you Sir.

The Temple Tomb said...
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Srinidhi Prahlad said...

As usual, excellent work!! I showed all these pictures to my grand mother and she was ecstatic! Thanks for making our evening wonderful :-)

SNPrasad said...
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SNPrasad said...
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C.Suseela said...

Sir, today I am able to see the series of the pictures of the baby bull bulls. It is amazing,where as we are able to see those delicate pictures in animal planet etc..Thank u for providing nice description & awesome pictures. suseela

pripics said...

Thanks to your story... After reading this I want to share my same story too...
Same happened at my home as well from last 4 -5 week... the same steps by steps things goes on but today morning we have noticed all new born not in nest and it not seems like attacked or they fallen down...

Very mysterious ... they really shift their babies.

I also observe the voice of babies from near of another tree it might be those babies :D

God bless them ... a mystery in bird life.

Anonymous said...

Right now I am witnessing the process of the Bubbul making the nest in our roof top garden & they have chosen the same Hibiscus plant in our garden too ( in the stems which are near the wall)

Sreekumar said...

Sir,

Exactly same thing happened in our house too. We found that the baby bulbuls are missing today morning even though I located one baby in the nest yesterday night and today morning. Initially, there were three babies. One day we found of these three two were missing. We suspected that some crow or some other birds might have stolen them. Hence, we were so curious and worried about the third bird. Today morning also I had taken a photo of the bird. When I came back from office for lunch, I am surprised to see that the bird is missing. Morning on wards, the parent birds were sitting and making lots of noise while feeding the baby. Now I am very much sure that the parent birds have shifted the baby bird to some other location. Still, I wonder how this is possible because the small bird may not be that light to be carried by the parent birds..

Vinay kimi said...

I have a similar story to share .. Its the exact 5th day after the eggs were hatched and today evening at around 4pm, I found that 1 of the baby had died, probably even the other baby was dead too but I'm not sure.. And later at 6:30pm, baby birds were taken away or thrown or buried by the parent birds.. Don't know what happened to the babies :(

Minal said...

I saw a baby lying far from her best. I surprised how she came there? Her parents are missing? I don't know what to do. I kept the baby in one of the best of bulbul.

Unknown said...

The similar situation i faced today , in the morning there were two little bulbuls in the nest and an egg , and when i returned back to see the bulbul in the afternoon a devil lizard has already killed a bulbul and also was killing another , i throwed a stick to the lizard but it was too late , he killed both the little bulbul 😭😭 , but there after some time the mother bulbul came with a insect in his mouth and she was searching his kids but didn't find any . She then sat on the nest for whole night with an egg unhatched in the nest . And the next day she flewed away and didn't came back till now , but there is an egg in the nest , what should i do now , pls help meee

Unknown said...

The same story happened in our house. We constantly looking at them but one evening we noticed that the nest is empty.

Iram fatma said...

Almost same story , it is the same stage when they migrate there baby I guess, in the morning I found one baby lying on the floor I thought it would have fallen from the nest when I went closer to the baby bird the parents attacked me, from that time they are gaurding the baby and feeding her whereas the other one is still in nest sleeping. Not sure what to do , is it safe to leave it there

Deepak Singh said...

same thing I faced today on 13 July 2020, tomorrow i will trace where she shifted the babies.

We were in tension before reading this blog. Now I can say Bulbul has nature to shift their babies before they grown sufficient to fly.

Unknown said...

Yes!we have bulbul chicks right now in the nest they have built on wires of Dish on terrace.. initially there were 3 egss for like some days..ther was rain the next day all the egss disappeared..I thought they have shifted the house. But after 20 days I saw 3 chicks of bulbul again.. don't know they are the same bulbul chicks..after 4 days there are only 2 chicks now..one is missing..I think they get bigger quickly and so one is shifted elsewhere because..only one bulbul stays here at night..they must have a 2 nd best where they have shifted the 3rd chick

Unknown said...

Yes!we have bulbul chicks right now in the nest they have built on wires of Dish on terrace.. initially there were 3 egss for like some days..ther was rain the next day all the egss disappeared..I thought they have shifted the house. But after 20 days I saw 3 chicks of bulbul again.. don't know they are the same bulbul chicks..after 4 days there are only 2 chicks now..one is missing..I think they get bigger quickly and so one is shifted elsewhere because..only one bulbul stays here at night..they must have a 2 nd best where they have shifted the 3rd chick

reo4oreo said...

Lovely pictures. I am not so optimistic that they were moved away by the parents. I had on many occasions seen nests built on my potted monkey palms with parents taking turn shuttling to & fro the nest sometimes with insects in their beaks. Sadly, each time the nests become empty not from the babies maturing & flying away. Only recently the same thing happened and the parents were seen hovering around the nest for at least a day wondering what had happened to their offsprings. Something must have eaten them i am sure. However the nests always look undisturbed, at least from our human eyes. I came across your article whilst looking for answers.. tq

Anonymous said...

Same happens here, there were 3 eggs but 2 chicks came 1 egg was missing, and after few days 1 chicks died without any sign of attackd by someone ,now next day 1 alive chick was missing with their parents surprisingly,

Unknown said...

3 chicks present last morning but now only 2 please tell what happened to 3rd one it's not on ground even.

Nandini said...

The same thing happened to us. There were 2 chicks in the nest till yesterday afternoon. It was the 6th day after hatching. Today morning the nest is empty but intact. The parent birds are also not to be seen. Its too much of a coincidence that they went missing on the same day at around the same time.

Unknown said...

Same story .. beautiful nest on a shrub on a safe branch.the birds laid single egg though.saw the eggs hatch.saw them feeding the baby also.One day I had seen the small baby bird sitting outside the nest on a branch .
It was left unattended.no parent bulbul seen nearby.
I thought that it's learning to fly maybe.
Next day the parents were making a lot of noise.so I came to see the baby.alas nest was empty.
The parent birds were making rounds around me
So I searched if any cat or snake was around.
But I didn't find anything.
Felt very sad.
Next day they flew away.
Maybe someone took the baby bird .don't know.
But by the parents anguish it was sure that baby was missing ,not shifted to other nest..

Unknown said...

We saw a small nest on a sturdy branch of a flower shrub in our garden we observed the journey of the birds from incubating the egg to feeding the baby bird.
One day I saw that the baby bird was sitting on a branch near the nest.
It was left unattended by the parents or maybe the baby sneaked out when they were not around.i thought maybe it's learning to fly or something.
Next day morning the parent birds were making a lot of noise so I came to see the nest was empty and no sign of baby around.
The parents were flying and making rounds around me.
So I searched around for any cat or snake who would have taken the baby.
Nothing found.
Felt very sad.
The parents kept on mourning loudly the whole day and then flew away...
I don't think that baby was shifted..
It was definitely taken or got eaten by someone

Unknown said...

Yesterday there were three eggs but when today morning when I saw the nest there was only 1 egg.
Where did other two go??

Anonymous said...

Today morning while I was going to empty my dust can the collection of my apartment bins i saw my Two Doggies trying to get at a frightened and confused Bul Bul i managed to get it in my hands safely and i knew it needed to rest and get back to its normal flight so my neighbour gave me a cage with some bird grains and it's looking a bit better hopefully it will be able to fly back to where it belongs mostly i pray it's freedom is under its wings and it's able to spread its wings and fly away

Anonymous said...

We discovered a nest our terrace garden there were three eggs hatched and three chick’s came now after few days one baby is missing do heart breaking ❤️‍🩹

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing your story Doctor regarding the bulbuls… it’s so amazing how God has created each bird.

I want to narrate the story of a bulbul next on my balcony…. Same story as narrated by Doctor, there were 3 eggs and the babies were out…. Watched the mother bulbul feed the babies and the other one on a watch. Both the parents fed the babies. Yesterday morning when I woke up all three babies were fallen flat on the balcony floor and my heart sank seeing them.. my maid checked on them all three were breathing and alive so she gently picked them up n placed them back in their nest…. Both parents were not to be seen around so we thought they were abandoned n did not know what to do or what to feed them. Finally after an hour we saw the mother come with food and we could see only one baby being fed. The next morning when we checked the nest there was only one baby n it got us worried where could the other two go as the nest was intact no intruder …. I guess the parents have moved the other two to another nest as this was too small and found that all three had fallen down. After reading doctors story on the bulbuls he watched it gave her a relief to know the other two babies must be safe in another nest. 🙏

Anonymous said...

It was indeed very relieving to read Dr. Prasad's blog on the missing Bulbuls.
I too witnessed a small beautiful bulbuls nest on my Dracaena plant last week. It was just in front of my glass window so I had a clear view of all the coming and goings of the couple birds. One day I saw mother bulbul feeding three open beaks in the nest...the sight was so thrilling. It went on for 2- 3 days ...we also placed pieces of peach on the balcony ledge which they quickly took and always flew away to some nearby tree. All was well until yesterday when in the morning after my walk I saw the small birdies missing from the nest. Looking around I found one lying on the floor near the door and another one hanging on a lower branch of the plant and the third one missing.I panicked and with the help of my husband we somehow placed both of them back in the nest saving from the attacks of the parent bulbul.
By afternoon we saw mother bulbul feeding the two young ones.
To my utter surprise in the evening I found the nest empty. Once or twice the bulbul came near the plant....then it just fell silent.
So many thoughts came to my mind ...but then Dr.Prasad's blog along with other people's comments have made me realize the nature's way of protecting and taking care of their young ones. 😀