[Lara]

I had been watching a couple of Olive-backed Sunbirds build a nest for a few weeks just outside my kitchen window. They usually use plant fibre and moss but these lucky ones have mainly used the tiny little soft feathers that my hens drop around the yard after they've been broody mixed with brownish coloured flowers from the mango trees. Inside the nest is totally lined with tiny soft feathers.

These bird couples mate for life and they have between 1 and 3 eggs, but from what I read only one chick fledges.

Unfortunately they were building their nest in a delicate palm tree seed pod (those antler looking things) that had already dropped all the seeds and was dried out. One morning I came out and the nest was gone and the seed pod remnant was lying on the ground.

My daughter found it some distance away in the garden and decided to peg it to a piece of rope in the old shed. We didn't think they would find it or continue to build it but they did. It's a very tiny little bird so this was weeks of effort.

Here's a pic of their strange soft little nest made from chicken feathers and mango flowers. The birds are only about 4 inches or less so the nest is quite small. It won't be long for the eggs to hatch. Such clever little birds.
edited to add that photo of the sunbird is from wiki, not my camera. Nest is our nest.

[kiwi33]

How lovely !