Attempt by Redvented Bulbul Pycnonotus Cafer To Feed on a Young House Gecko Hemidactylus Flaviviridis

1 Pages·1999·0.6 MB·

by  A M K Bharos

MISCELLANEOUSNOTES
References
Ali, S. & S.D. Ripley (1983): A Handbook ofBirds of Short,L.L.(1982):WoodpeckersoftheWorld, Delaware
IndiaandPakistan,CompactEdition,OUP. MuseumofNaturalHistory.
ATTEMPT BY REDVENTED BULBUL PYCNONOTUSCAFER TO FEED
13.
ONAYOUNG HOUSEGECKOHEMIDACTYLUSFLAVIVIRIDIS
The food of the redvented bulbul catchholdofthe geckoandcarried ittothe wall
Pycnonotus cafer consists offruits and berries, where itswungthevictim’sheadviolently from
flowernectar,andlargeinsects.Amongthefood side to side and even struck it against the wall.
brought for a nestling was a young lizard 9 cm All through, it was very agitated, and soon the
long which caused the death of a 5-6 days old crippledyounggeckowasplacedonthe ground.
chickattemptingtoswallowit(handbookofbirds Thebird attemptedto swallow it, butthe morsel
ofIndiaandPakistan, AliandRipley 1983, Vol. appeared,unmanageable, so it was left.
6, pp 85-88). Similar observations were made by my
However, on May 20, 1999 around 0830 brother in his garden at Raipur some time ago,
hrs, a bird was seen moving from one flower butinthis case, thebirdkeptitselfstationary for
bedtoanotherinourresidenceatDurg,Madhya quite sometimebeforeattemptingtocapturethe
Pradesh. For quite some time, the birdbehaved juvenilegecko.
inthis manner. Ultimately, it approached a rose
bedclosetotheboundarywallwhereitperched, July 15, 1997 A.M.K. BHAROS
still looking here and there. Soon it flew down B-101, GayatriNagar,
to the gap between the rose plant and a bush, P.O. ShankerNagar,
andpeckedatahouse geckohatchling about40 Raipur 492 007,
mm
long. After some attempts, it managed to Madhya Pradesh.
FLOCKING AND ALTITUDINAL MOVEMENTS OF
14.
THE BLACKBULBULHYPSIPETESMADAGASCARIENSIS
IN THE SOUTHERN WESTERN GHATS, INDIA
The black bulbul Hypsipetes move “in parties of six to ten, but sometimes
(
madagascariensis)isoneamongseveralspecies numbering up to ahundred individuals ...” (Ali
of Indian hill birds that exhibit seasonal and Ripley 1983). Here I describe some
altitudinal movements. In the Western Ghats it observations on flocking behaviour and daily
m
breedsbetween 1000 andthe summits during altitudinal movements of black bulbuls in the
March to June, descending to the foothills in Sengaltheri area ofthe Kalakad-Mundanthurai
thenon-breeding season(Ali andRipley 1983). Tiger Reserve in southern Tamil Nadu.
Beingmainlydependantonfruitforfood, italso The study areainthe southern extremityof
m
sharesthepenchantforshorttermlocalnomadic the Western Ghats mountain range is ca. 1000
movements seen among frugivorous species, above msl. The vegetation is of the medium
possibly tracking changes in food supply over elevationwetevergreenforesttypedescribedby
several localities. It has been noted in the Pascal (1988). Systematic observations on 600
H m
Himalayan subspecies m. psaroides) that long linetransects andpointcounts (between
( . m
during the non-breeding season, the bulbuls 900 and 1350 altitude) were supplemented
320 JOURNAL. BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY. 96(2) AUG. 1999