Hatching–The Beginning of Life'

Hatching–The Beginning of Life’ The Life of Oriental White-Eye Bird’

Oriental White-Eye Zosterops palpebrosus

Kingdom - Animalia Phylum - Chordata Class - Aves Order: - Passeriformes Family: - Zosteropidae Genus: - Zosterops Species: - palpebrosus

ABOUT THE BIRD/- The Oriental white-eye is a small bird of 8cm - 9cm in the white- eye family. It is a very common bird of Indian Subcontinent and can be seen very often in the foothills of Himalayas. They forage in small group of 2 to 4 individuals and feed upon Nectar and Small Arthropods. They have yellowish upper parts and can be easily identified by the distinct White-eye Ring. , Yellow Throat and Vent. The belly is whitish grey but it may be yellow in some sub-species. They have 11 well recognized sub-species. Both the sexes look similar. The breeding season is February to September.

BEHAVIOUR/- The Whit-eyes are very social birds. They form flocks and separate when breeding season comes. They are highly arboreal and visit rarely on ground. LIFE CYCLE/-

Nest and Eggs: As said above, the breeding season of this bird is February to September but April and May are the most common breeding seasons. An adult pair of Oriental White-eye start building their Nest in the middle of May. The Nest is made of Plant fibers, grass sticks and some lichens. It takes 3 to 4 days to complete the knotting process of Nest and within a couple of days the female lays 2-3 pale blue eggs.

Incubation and Hatching: Female incubates her eggs for 10 days. During Incubation, the mother sits on eggs to provide heat so as to promote the embryonic development and the hatching of young white-eye. Incubation maintain eggs at optimal environment conditions for the better growth and development of brood. After Birth/-

Two-three broods of Oriental White-eye release after the hatching of eggs. The mother shows very high degree of Parental Care. She protects the broods from other predatory birds like White Throated Kingfisher, The House Crow (Corvus splendens) and other predators like bats. After 2 weeks the broods start chirping and feathers start growing on them. Initially the feathers seem somewhat spiny shaped and pencil colored but soon they take their original shape and become ready to perform their function.

Now after about 4 weeks, it’s time to leave their temporary house. Motivate by the voice of Skillful parents they make their first flight of hope one by one. They are big enough to find food for them but most of the broods die during their nesting period. Some amateur lost their life during learning the survival skills. Only 70% of broods reach up to their adult stage where they perform the same life cycle as their parents performed.

The Nesting Stage is the most critical stage in the life of Birds. Birds are quite sensitive to intrusions during this period. Birds are known to abandon their Nests and eggs if they feel threatened. Their population enhancement and their extinction both depends upon their nesting phase of life. We should avoid regular visits to bird’s Nest. The disturbance caused by us can put someone’s life in danger.