We have babies !

It's been five days since I saw the eggs in the bulbul (pycnonotus cafer) nest - I was at our site yesterday and noticed the red vented bulbul at the nest incubating the eggs.

This morning I noticed that the adult bulbul was away from the nest and I took the opportunity to take a quick peek - imagine my delight when I saw tiny freshly hatched chicks in the nest. They were likely less than a day old ! Check out the video to see how a newborn bulbul looks - the smooth skin, the beak, the closed eyes and the tail bone can be identified.

Once bulbuls identify a nesting site, they take about 5 days to build the nest. Post that the eggs are laid and incubated. The chicks hatch in about two weeks. Their feeding and growth takes another 10 to 12 days - post that they will be ready for their first flight !

...The early bird

...We have babies