I came across this dainty Tailorbird, Orthotomus sutorius, amidst the brush and scrub at Bondel. It was photographed using my Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L II IS USM with Canon EF 2X III Extender on Canon EOS 5D Mark III Camera.
Tailorbirds are a common sight in our cities and garden. It is one of the more common birds to frequent the urban scene, right up there along with bully mynahs and dignified bubuls. And yet, despite being common, tailorbirds are largely unknown to most people, who fail to notice it owing to it’s small size and sombre color tone.
Tiny greenish-brown warblers, both sexes are superficially alike, being largely greenish with a dash of gold or chestnut on the head and a neat black collar, visible only when the neck is stretched. The lower parts dull white, and are thus lighter in colour than the back and wings. When breeding, two middle tail-feathers in the male bird grow to a greater length, extending two inches beyond the tail.
What tailor birds lack in size and brilliance, though, they make up in sheer vivacity, constantly flitting amongst foliage while foraging for insects and periodically giving vent to a loud, distinct and melodic note, rather nasal in nature, which may be syllabized as ‘to-wit, to-wit, to-wit’.
Thanks to my good friend Ramit Singal for recording this call 🙂
The latin name of the tailor bird sutorius means ‘cobbler’ rather than ‘tailor’, while Orthotomus means ‘straight-cutting’. The birds are popularly known as ‘tailor birds’ owing to their curious, yet fascinating behavior of stitching together two or more leaves to form a nursery for their young.
The bird’s beak is its needle and the cotton wool used to form threads can begged, borrowed, or stolen as situation permits. For example, If the fruits of the silk-cotton tree are ripe, the birds extract cotton from them, spinning it into a thread of sorts with their beak and feet. If no silk-cotton trees are present in the vicinity, they will recourse to utilizing the fibrous webbing present at the bases of the petioles of the Common Toddy Palm.
I have also seen tailor-birds making cotton thread from pieces of discarded cotton wool, during the nesting season.
The nest is a deep cup, lined with soft materials and placed amidst thick foliage. The leaves making up the nest have their upper surfaces facing on the outside, making it extremely difficult to spot. In addition, punctures made along the edges of the leaves, while sowing them together, are minute and do not result in browning, further aiding the camouflage.
After nest construction is completed, three to five diminutive eggs are laid in it. The tailor-bird, like several other species, lays more than one type of egg. Some of which may have white background with red blotches. Others may be white with faint red speckling and still others might be blue in color, marked with red. Incubation period lasts about twelve days.
Mortality of eggs and chicks is often high owing to predation by rodents, cats, crow-pheasants, lizards and other predators. The young birds fledge in about 14 days with both parents participating in feeding and sanitation.
Nests are also, on occasion, parasitized by the Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus).
Tailorbird nests are often almost placed within three feet from ground level and are commonly found in urban gardens.
And although Tailorbirds derive their name from the nests they construct, this behavior is not unique to them; many prinia warblers construct similar nests.
Dear Mr.
your photo are of great help to me. being a teacher it an amazing experience to your capture
great job
thanks
devi
Hello sir, I just want knw something about tailorbird.
I found the nest and chick in me garden, they all just 4 r 5 days old.. On next day that nest is mt..
Is there any possible that mother bird shifted that chick..???
Dear Sathish,
They are in capable of carrying their chicks like the cats carry their kittens around. Chances are they were killed by another predator. Either cat or snake or any other.
Nesting birds vary in the extent that they tolerate disturbance and some will desert their nest with just the slightest provocation. Being approached for a photograph, or simply having a photographer hanging around nearby, is plenty to cause some birds to desert. In some cases the bird will sit tight while the photographer is there leading the photographer to think that they are not causing any problems, but leave after he/she has departed.
As well as causing desertion there are a number of other problems. The presence of a careful photographer who is not him or herself creating disturbance can nevertheless draw other people’s attention to the nest – and they may not be so careful. I believe non-human predators such as cats have been known to find and predate a nest after observing a human paying it attention.
Sometimes photographers may remove vegetation from around the nest in order to create a clear view or to improve the photo. This is NEVER acceptable and if it doesn’t directly cause the birds to desert it will make the nest more visible to predators.
Thank u soo much sir… After i read ur text feeling very bad because of they lost the chick… Am sorry for that.. In a future I never made this mistake anymore..
Thanks again..
Regards
Sathish R
Do they have rwo black spots in the front neck region.. i see a small bird in my garden.. wanted to confirm whether it is tailor bird.. v fast n v small.. no
I want to know the total age of tailorbird. In my garden one pair had two child. One of them was injured and lost his/her arm/feather. Now he/she is grown up to 1.5 months and with us from last one month. He/she can not fly but use to play with us whole day. We use carry on our shoulder. He/she is very happy. I want to know sex and total age, life span. Plz help. My mobile no is 9805788081
Thanks for visiting my blog. In general smaller birds mature faster as their lifespan is lower compared to large birds. We have no exact data what is the life span of the Tailor bird. They breed once a year and they are supposed to live 3-4 years. Distinguishing male from female is difficult as the sexes are identical, except that the male has long central tail feathers only in the breeding season.
Hello,
There are 4 tailor bird babies in my house, two have fallen from their nest. How long will they take to fly?
Regards,
Anna
Hi, I have a nest of tailor birds with 3 hatchlings in my garden. The hatchlings are about 10-12 days old. The leaves which were sewn to make the nest have turned yellow yesterday and the nest dropped on to the lower branch (of hibiscus plant) and was tilted. So I was afraid the nest might fall to the ground or the hatchlings might fall out of the nest so I used a string to hold the leaves to a bigger branch of the plant. The opening of the nest if narrow now and the chicks are congested in the nest I feel. The parents come to the nest but I am not sure if they can feed the hatchlings properly.
So I wanted to know if the turning of the leaves is normal and part of the process or not and whether I did the right thing by tying the nest to a branch and if not then what can I do to make it right?
Thanks!