While walking through a forested patch adjoining the famous Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh one morning, I noticed a lot of movement on a big banyan tree. On closer inspection I realised that the tree was fruiting and had attracted hordes of birds! At first, I could only see Brown-headed Barbets. But as I inched closer, I saw Coppersmith Barbets as well…
SPECIES NO BAR! Oriental White-eye was the most populous species visiting the tree. Sometimes their numbers easily surpassed a hundred. It was quite fascinating to watch the inter-species interactions between the birds. So while the barbets gobbled up fruits on one side of the canopy, white-eyes and the two species of flowerpeckers would be busy pecking at the stalks of the fruits on the other side. And the birds would move around in these inter-species flocks in a circular manner around the globular canopy of the tree.
This story is from the July 2019 edition of Sanctuary Asia.
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This story is from the July 2019 edition of Sanctuary Asia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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