Miracle Baby - Red Vented Bulbul

Baby Red Vented Bulbul

Photograph by Carol Reynolds

Good news !  If you read the previous post (scroll down)  on Monday, June 15, 2015, you will see that some Red vented bulbul adults had built a nest on a palm branch that was dying.  Right after I made that post, on Wednesday of that same week the palm branch fell off the tree.   I felt so bad for the birds.   I had prayed for a miracle to happen concerning the eggs/babies, like for the palm branch to miraculously not fall.    I could not find the branch that fell and assumed it had fallen on a rooftop across from my paitio, which was directly below the dying branch.     

The parent bulbuls began a flurry of activity for the next few days and I assumed they were building a new nest to the left of my lanai (patio) which was out of my sight.   However, they seemed to be flying low and all their activity was more towards the ground.    On the following Monday I was surprised to see a baby bulbul in my ficus tree on my lanai. !!  I was so happy.   My  prayer for a miracle had been answered.   Perhaps the nest had blown to the ground in a soft spot of some vegetation.   There was no sign of any other babies.   

The above photo was taken of my lanai from my living room window.   I stayed off the lanai pretty much to give the birds privacy while they were occupying the area.   My ficus tree in the background was where the baby bulbul first made its appearance and I watched the parents flit back and forth to feed the youngster.   

Adult Red Vented Bulbul

This photo gives you a better idea of the bulbul's coloring, etc,.  The previous photos of the adult bulbuls were taken looking towards the bright sky while the birds were in the palm tree and therefore did not give a good light to see details of the birds.     They were not too shy when I sat on the lanai and took their portraits.   

I am so glad that at least one baby bulbul survived.   Below is another photograph I took today.  The baby has a much stronger and louder chirp now than it did on this past Monday.   Also, it can fly better and made it into the higher palm branches today.

Baby red vented Bulbul in palm tree

I am very glad I was wrong and that the adult birds were not building a new nest after all like I had previously presumed. .  Life goes on.   I love happy endings !!

Red Vented Bulbul - Drama on Oahu, Hawaii

Red Vented Bulbul in Palm Tree

Photograph by Carol Reynolds

Red Vented Bulbuls (pycnonotas cafer) are quite common on the island of Oahu.  They are considered a harmful invasive species as they wreck havoc on gardens and fruits and causes over $300,000 damage annually to orchids here.    There are several orchid growers on this island.   Red vented Bulbuls eat other things besides flowers and flower buds; they also eat fruit and vegetables as well as insects and even small lizards.   I took the photograph above from off my patio (they are called lanai here in Hawaii).   There is a big drama going on above in the palm trees just beyond my lanai.   See photo below.

Anyone familiar with palm trees knows that when they have orange and/or brown "leaves" that that means it is dying and will soon fall off the tree.   Can you see the bulbul in this tree?  A pair has built a nest on this dying palm leaf.   It was green when they began the nest.    Look below.

See the nest ?   At this point I believe there are only eggs in the nest, because the male and female take turns sitting on it and there is no constant back and forth like there would  be if the eggs had hatched and they were feeding babies.   

I wish I could do something to help.   I called the number for a bird/animal rescue place, and the woman said nature would just have to take its course,   These were probably young parents and they will have to learn the hard way to build their nest somewhere else.   Nesting season lasts a long time and soon they will have a new nest and new eggs. 

The photograph directly above gives you a good look at the Red Vented Bulbul's nice crest.

I took all the above photos this morning while on my lanai.   Later in this post is a video by someone else from You Tube, showing baby bulbuls being fed by the parents.  I wanted to give you a little more information about this aggressive bird first.     They are just a tad over 8 inches in size, and so far are found only on Oahu and the big island of Hawaii.  They are an alien introduced species to Hawaii and were originally from tropical southern Asia, as in India and Burma and China and I believe Pakistan as well.   The male and female bulbul look alike.   

On Oahu there is also found the Red Whiskered Bulbul, which are a bit smaller and, in my opinion, a lot prettier as they are lighter in color.   

I hope, after the nest falls , that "my" bulbuls stay near my area.   I enjoy their beautiful songs and their comings and goings.   They chase smaller finches and other birds away from what they consider their territory.    

Below is a video of bulbuls,     Enjoy !

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