Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Lookin' out my back door


Well out my back window actually. We've been watching this industrious little guy for almost three years now. He is a masked weaver (Ploceus velatus), and in order to attract a mate he has to construct a nest of sufficient quality to encourage a female to lay her eggs in it. Sadly he's a bit of a loser. Although several females have checked him out he has never been able to seal the deal. After every rejection he would demolish the nest and start again. Now however it appears he is so riddled with frustration and self-doubt that he just builds and destroys nest after nest without even getting it looked at first. I kind of empathize with him, my early years (15 through to 26) weren't too dissimilar.

1 comment:

Prehistoric Insanity said...

I had that same problem till I was 26 as well... Harsh world isn't it. Hopefully your bird pal doesn't have to wait that long. I don't think he's life span is that long...