Like most warblers, the common tailorbird is
insectivorous. The song is a loud '''' with variations across the populations. The disyllabic calls are repeated often.
Breeding The breeding season is March to December peaking from June to August in India, coinciding with the wet season. In Sri Lanka the main breeding periods are March to May and August to September, although they can breed throughout the year. Although the name is derived from their nest construction habit, the nest is not unique and is also found in many
Prinia warblers. The nest is a deep cup, lined with soft materials and placed in thick foliage and the leaves holding the nest have the upper surfaces outwards making it difficult to spot. The punctures made on the edge of the leaves are minute and do not cause browning of the leaves, further aiding camouflage. The nest lining of a nest in Sri Lanka that was studied by Casey Wood was found to be lined with lint from
Euphorbia,
Ceiba pentandra and
Bombax malabaricum species.
Jerdon wrote that the bird made knots, however no knots are used. Wood classified the processes used by the tailorbird in nest as sewing, rivetting, lacing and matting. In some cases the nest is made from a single large leaf, the margins of which are rivetted together. Sometimes the fibres from one rivet are extended into an adjoining puncture and appearing more like sewing. The stitch is made by piercing two leaves and drawing fibre through them. The fibres fluff out on the outside and in effect they are more like rivets. There are many variations in the nest and some may altogether lack the cradle of leaves. One observer noted that the birds did not utilize cotton that was made available while another observer,
Edward Hamilton Aitken, was able to induce them to use artificially supplied cotton. The usual clutch is three eggs. The incubation period is about 12 days. Both male and female feed the young. Mortality of eggs and chicks is high due to predation by rodents, cats, crow-pheasants, lizards and other predators. The males are said to feed the incubating female. Nests are sometimes
parasitized by the
Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus). ==In culture==