One of my favourite stories centers around a nest cavity in the tree trunk of a Toon tree in Landour, a small hill-station town in the western Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. I call this nest-hole the most valuable piece of Himalayan real estate! I've been following this excavated nest-hole cavity for nine years now, and each breeding season brings with it a new story. In the first season of my study, a large group of Himalayan Rock bees had possession of the nest hole. The following year, in the early spring, along came a pair of Himalayan Barbets. They used their large heavy beaks to enlarge the opening of the tree cavity, shaped it into a perfect circle and managed to oust the Rock Bees with the help of their large beaks. In an amazing turn of events, the Rock Bees claimed it back the following season, once the Barbets had abandoned it on successfully raising a brood within it. However, a colony of wasps had meanwhile started eyeing it as well. Even as the Rock Bees took possession of the tree hole, the wasps kept a small army of sentinels hovering at the entrance, buzzing a few inches from the nest-hole, in the air, hoping to get a foothold into this prime residential abode.
For a full three years, the wasps remained "mid-air" hoping to claim possession of the real estate. The wasps would retain vigil throughout the daylight hours. And each time the wasps came close, the aggregate of bees at the entrance 'shook' themselves in unison, to give the effect of being larger and more intimidating than they really were, to keep up the pressure on the wasps, and continue to stake out their own claim. The surprise twist came about when the tree itself starting claiming the nest-hole back, by closing the entrance to the cavity with fresh growth of wood. With time, the hole closed entirely, thus jetissoning the Rock Bees from it and when the cavity was less than the width of a bee, the bees gave up and exited their holding. At the end of the next winter season, along came the Barbets and finding the opportunity, they drilled back into the tree trunk and claimed the cavity as their nest-hole for the spring season ahead!
The next year, before the Barbets could come along and stake their claim, even earlier in the winter season, along came a pair of larger birds -- Large Scally-bellied Green Woodpeckers! Now these woodpeckers can pack a punch when wood is the target, and so they busied themselves in further enlarging the diameter of the entrance to their new home and proceeded to lay their eggs in the cosy chamber inside. They successfully fledged a brood of three young Woodpecker chicks even as they were kept busy procuring food for the growing youngsters within, collecting grubs and larvae from rotting tree-trunks which they brought back in their throats and gizzards, regurgitating into the hungry mouths of the chicks within. And when a feeding session is done, the chick being fed turns neatly around and delivers a faecal globule which the parent then takes gingerly in its beak (so as not to puncture it) and deposits it in some faraway place in the forest. This is done so that predators don't become aware of the presence of their chicks in the nest-hole from fallen faecal matter below the tree. After all, Yellow-throated Martens, the lithe and efficient killers of the middle Himalaya, are always on the ready, able to read such signs and respond with a quick climb up a tree, to investigate the nests of birds for a quick snack while on the move...
This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at wfi @ vsnl.com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.
For a full three years, the wasps remained "mid-air" hoping to claim possession of the real estate. The wasps would retain vigil throughout the daylight hours. And each time the wasps came close, the aggregate of bees at the entrance 'shook' themselves in unison, to give the effect of being larger and more intimidating than they really were, to keep up the pressure on the wasps, and continue to stake out their own claim. The surprise twist came about when the tree itself starting claiming the nest-hole back, by closing the entrance to the cavity with fresh growth of wood. With time, the hole closed entirely, thus jetissoning the Rock Bees from it and when the cavity was less than the width of a bee, the bees gave up and exited their holding. At the end of the next winter season, along came the Barbets and finding the opportunity, they drilled back into the tree trunk and claimed the cavity as their nest-hole for the spring season ahead!
The next year, before the Barbets could come along and stake their claim, even earlier in the winter season, along came a pair of larger birds -- Large Scally-bellied Green Woodpeckers! Now these woodpeckers can pack a punch when wood is the target, and so they busied themselves in further enlarging the diameter of the entrance to their new home and proceeded to lay their eggs in the cosy chamber inside. They successfully fledged a brood of three young Woodpecker chicks even as they were kept busy procuring food for the growing youngsters within, collecting grubs and larvae from rotting tree-trunks which they brought back in their throats and gizzards, regurgitating into the hungry mouths of the chicks within. And when a feeding session is done, the chick being fed turns neatly around and delivers a faecal globule which the parent then takes gingerly in its beak (so as not to puncture it) and deposits it in some faraway place in the forest. This is done so that predators don't become aware of the presence of their chicks in the nest-hole from fallen faecal matter below the tree. After all, Yellow-throated Martens, the lithe and efficient killers of the middle Himalaya, are always on the ready, able to read such signs and respond with a quick climb up a tree, to investigate the nests of birds for a quick snack while on the move...
This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at wfi @ vsnl.com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.
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