Breeding

Breeding habits of the African Tailorbird are poorly known, but it is highly territorial and believed to be a monogamous and solitary breeder. Breeding has been recorded during the rainy season, with egg laying from December to February. The nest is ca. 0.5 m above the ground. The outside is a pouch of hanging leaves sewn together with plant fibers, and the inside is a delicate cup of lichen fragments, bound with spider web. The clutch includes two eggs, but nothing is known about incubation or parental care.

Breeding has been recorded during the rainy season, with egg laying from early December to late February (13 Ripley, S. D., and G. Heinrich (1966). Comments on the avifauna of Tanzania I. Postilla 96:1–45. Close , 48 Brown, L. H., and P. L. Britton (1980). The Breeding Seasons of East African Birds. East African Natural History Society, Nairobi, Kenya. Close ).

Three nests (one in the Uluguru Mountains and two in the West Usambara Mountains) were all approximately 0.5 m above the ground and sewn between the jagged leaves of the same species of a low plant (13 Ripley, S. D., and G. Heinrich (1966). Comments on the avifauna of Tanzania I. Postilla 96:1–45. Close ).

The delicate nest pouch of drooping leaves is sewn together with long threads of yellow-green, moss-like silk, through holes pierced along the edges of the leaves (11 Irwin, M. P. S. (1997). African Tailorbird (Artisornis metopias). In The Birds of Africa. Volume V (E. K. Urban, C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors), Academic Press, London, United Kingdom. pp. 291–292. Close ).

The nest inside the pouch is a delicate little cup of fragments of lichen, bound together with spider web, lined with fine strands of hair-like fungal mycelia (11 Irwin, M. P. S. (1997). African Tailorbird (Artisornis metopias). In The Birds of Africa. Volume V (E. K. Urban, C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors), Academic Press, London, United Kingdom. pp. 291–292. Close ). Cup measurements: internal diameter 40 mm; internal depth 26 mm; external diameter 65 mm; external depth 76 mm (11 Irwin, M. P. S. (1997). African Tailorbird (Artisornis metopias). In The Birds of Africa. Volume V (E. K. Urban, C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors), Academic Press, London, United Kingdom. pp. 291–292. Close ).

The clutch size is two eggs. The eggs are fairly large relative to body size (no measurements available), oval, and slightly narrowed towards one end. The color is white, with dark red-brown marks spread over the entire surface, and with some pale grayish marks in between (13 Ripley, S. D., and G. Heinrich (1966). Comments on the avifauna of Tanzania I. Postilla 96:1–45. Close ).

Information needed.

Information needed.

Information needed.

Information needed.

Not reported.

Information needed.

Information needed.

Information needed.