Scaly breasted munia (Lonchura punctulata)
Scaly-breasted Munias breed year round and may have multiple broods on a good year, up to 3-4 broods. The males perform a courting song, which may attract another male or even several. These males perch close to the singer and peer intently at his bill. This behaviour is called "peering". A male also entices a female by flying about with a bit of grass in his bill and flickering his wings and tail. If the female is interested, she too picks up a bit of grass and flickers her wings.
Scaly-breasted Munias build well hidden nests 4-5m high in thorny bushes, trees, creepers, or high in the crowns of palms. Often, the only way you can spot the location is to see the bird carrying nesting material into its hiding place. Sometimes they nest in bushes infested by ants, which appear to leave the birds alone and provide them some protection. Unlike their roosting nests, breeding nests may be built closer together in a colony. The male brings nesting materials while the female builds, often from the inside. In some, the breeding nest is later used as a roosting nest.
The nest is an untidy globe made out of grass and bamboo leaves, with a side entrance. It is lined with soft fluffy seeds or feathers. The nest are not woven and material is simply pushed together. But the nests are well-made, robust and waterproof. The birds work tirelessly and the nest can become an enormous globe. 5-6 white eggs are laid, although sometimes more eggs are found, probably laid by more than one female. Both parents incubate. The eggs hatch in about 2 weeks and the young are fed entirely vegetable matter, which is regurgitated by the parents. They fledge in 18-19 days. Juveniles often form their own flocks after leaving their parents, and wander about together.
Scaly breasted munia (Lonchura punctulata)
Scaly-breasted Munias breed year round and may have multiple broods on a good year, up to 3-4 broods. The males perform a courting song, which may attract another male or even several. These males perch close to the singer and peer intently at his bill. This behaviour is called "peering". A male also entices a female by flying about with a bit of grass in his bill and flickering his wings and tail. If the female is interested, she too picks up a bit of grass and flickers her wings.
Scaly-breasted Munias build well hidden nests 4-5m high in thorny bushes, trees, creepers, or high in the crowns of palms. Often, the only way you can spot the location is to see the bird carrying nesting material into its hiding place. Sometimes they nest in bushes infested by ants, which appear to leave the birds alone and provide them some protection. Unlike their roosting nests, breeding nests may be built closer together in a colony. The male brings nesting materials while the female builds, often from the inside. In some, the breeding nest is later used as a roosting nest.
The nest is an untidy globe made out of grass and bamboo leaves, with a side entrance. It is lined with soft fluffy seeds or feathers. The nest are not woven and material is simply pushed together. But the nests are well-made, robust and waterproof. The birds work tirelessly and the nest can become an enormous globe. 5-6 white eggs are laid, although sometimes more eggs are found, probably laid by more than one female. Both parents incubate. The eggs hatch in about 2 weeks and the young are fed entirely vegetable matter, which is regurgitated by the parents. They fledge in 18-19 days. Juveniles often form their own flocks after leaving their parents, and wander about together.