[Objectives] Predation risk is one of the important factors that affect the life-history strategies of birds. To cope with predation risk, birds have evolved diverse self-protection measures and complex anti-predation strategies. This study aims to explore the adaptation mechanism of birds’ growth and development to high nest predation risk in the northern tropical limestone forest area. [Methods] We simulated nest predators by using snake models to increase the potential nest predation risk in an experimental group, and the experiment without the snake model was set as the control group. We measured the daily mass, tarsus length and wing length of the nestlings of Yellow-bellied Prinia (Prinia flaviventris) and Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) during the brood period. The growth and development laws of the mass, tarsus length and wing length of Yellow-bellied Prinia and Red-whiskered Bulbul were compared and analyzed in the experimental group and the control group. The growth parameters of each day-old nestling conformed to the parametric assumptions and therefore were analyzed by t-test. The growth parameters of each day-old nestling that did not conform to the parametric assumptions were analyzed by the Wilcox rank sum test (non-parametric test) and the mean value were calculated (Table 1). Then, we used SPSS 26.0 statistical software package for logistic curve fitting and comparison of the “S” development curves of the same growth parameters of nestlings between the experimental group and control group (Fig. 1). [Results] The asymptotes of mass, tarsus length and wing length of Yellow-bellied Prinia nestlings in the experimental group accounted for 71.57%, 94.10% and 55.29% of the adult measurements, and 78.05%, 97.49% and 55.67% of the adult measurements in the control experiment, respectively. The brood period was 11.1 and 10.6 days in experimental and control group. The growth of nestlings of Yellow-bellied Prinia was significantly different from the second day of age. The growth rates of body mass, tarsus and wing in the experimental group were 0.59, 0.64 and 0.41 respectively, and in the control group were 0.64, 0.57 and 0.47 respectively (Table 2). The asymptotes of mass, tarsus length and wing length of Red-whiskered Bulbul nestlings accounted for 55.29%, 97.70% and 49.60% of the adult measurements in the experimental group, and 53.83%, 99.73% and 52.17% of the adult measurements in the control group, respectively. The brood period was 11.4 and 10.1 days in experimental group and control group. For Red-whiskered Bulbul, only mass at 7th day of age and tarsus length at 8th day of age showed significant differences. The growth rates of body mass, tarsus and wing in the experimental group were 0.34, 0.39 and 0.38 respectively, and in the control group were 0.70, 0.59 and 0.55. [Conclusion] Higher potential predation risk prolonged the brood period of Yellow-bellied Prinia and Red-whiskered Bulbul nestlings, and the development of Yellow-bellied Prinia nestlings was slower than that under normal predation risk. On the contrary, the growth characteristics of Red-whiskered Bulbul were more developed when fledging. Increasing the potential nest predation risk has different effects on nestlings of the Yellow-bellied Prinia and the Red-whiskered Bulbul, resulting in different changes in the growth and development patterns of different nestlings. The two nestlings may adopt different developmental strategies, which provided new insights into the effects of predation risk on the growth and development of birds.