Kim, Sal & Marni-Thi's Photo Album

Diary of Mr & Mrs Sunny

Sal Badcock Studio & Gallery
Mission Beach, North Queensland, Australia
email Sal
We are lucky to share our space with the most magnificent creatures,
and one of the most beautiful are the tiny Yellow-Bellied Sunbirds (Nectarinia jugularis.
I guess you could say that they are Australia's answer to the hummingbird.
They love to build their little hanging nests around houses as it gives them protection from both weather & predators.
This year I have decided to keep a diary of their nest building / breeding efforts.

The First Date

I am totally unsure of how long it is between the first date and
the actual nest building.
But I was lucky enough one day to witness
the 'can I buy you a drink' and 'how about it' stages.
I heard the Sunny's outside our kitchen window, I looked out and saw
Mrs Sunny all puffed up and hunched over. I was concerned as
I thought she was ill, so I went out to check her out. I discovered
that Mr Sunny was also out there equally as puffed up and
hunched over. I realised that I was wittnessing something special
So I raced in and grabbed my camera.

Mr Sunny
Mrs Sunny, doing her best impression of a tennis ball

8th October 2006

Mr & Mrs Sunny started checking out the the verenadah for a
suitable nesting spot. They spent a lot of time flitting around
checking out different areas, then finally decided that the piece
of wire we have hanging from the ceiling just for them was
definitely the gear.
Over the next few days they started attaching bits of leaves & grass
to the wire. They then left it for a few days, we thought it must have been
a dummy nest, as they will often build more than one nest to confuse the
predators.

11th October 2006 - 8am
The building of the dream home

They have returned and started building in earnest.
Once they make their minds up, it is a fairly quick process.
Both Mr & Mrs Sunny do the initial building, then he takes up the
role of protector of the territory whilst she does the rest of the building.
He comes and inspects regularly.
Unfortunately, I didn't think to get photos of the first phase of construction.

gotta love this photo

23rd October 2006
The Completed House (nobody home yet though)

We think that this pair must be beginners, as they have taken much longer to build than normal.

stay tuned for further developments

Home

I am totally unsure of how long it is between the first date and the actual nest building. But I was lucky enough one day to witness the 'can I buy you a drink' and 'how about it' stages. I heard the Sunny's outside our kitchen window, I looked out and saw Mrs Sunny all puffed up and hunched over. I was concerned as I thought she was ill, so I went out to check her out. I discovered that Mr Sunny was also out there equally as puffed up and hunched over. I realised that I was wittnessing something special So I raced in and grabbed my camera.

Mr Sunny	Mrs Sunny, doing her best impression of a tennis ball
8th October 2006
	Mr & Mrs Sunny started checking out the the verenadah for a suitable nesting spot. They spent a lot of time flitting around checking out different areas, then finally decided that the piece of wire we have hanging from the ceiling just for them was definitely the gear. Over the next few days they started attaching bits of leaves & grass to the wire. They then left it for a few days, we thought it must have been a dummy nest, as they will often build more than one nest to confuse the predators.
11th October 2006 - 8am The building of the dream home
They have returned and started building in earnest. Once they make their minds up, it is a fairly quick process. Both Mr & Mrs Sunny do the initial building, then he takes up the role of protector of the territory whilst she does the rest of the building. He comes and inspects regularly. Unfortunately, I didn't think to get photos of the first phase of construction.

23rd October 2006 The Completed House (nobody home yet though)