The Termi(te)nator

[Roopak Gangadharan]

This yellow billed babbler was after termites. The search was through and even managed to nudge inside of the rotting pieces.Eco friendly and cost effective Termite management solution for the future???

500D,55-250, 250mm, SS1/160, ISO400,f6.3, AE

Roopak

[Lakshminarayanan Nataraja]

Nice behaviour captured. Have not heard of babblers feasting on termites.

Woodpeckers are the best termite controllers.

If birds thrive there is no need of man made pest control measures.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nice capture Roopak!

I agree that if birds thrive, there is no need for artificial pesticides. However we need to understand how nature works. With the mechanised farming, most of the smaller landholdings are converted into large lands so that tilling with a tractor is easier. However, when we do that, we lose out on the small pieces of raised mud walls/dividers (for want of a better word) that serve in demarcating the land holdings. Earlier days there used to be plants and bushes which served as perch for insectivorous birds like drongos. Today, except for an overhead electric cable, you will hardly find a perch for our insectivorous birds. The effect is obvious. These insectivorous birds don't flock to these fields any more as they dont have perch. For further details you can check here:

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118

Cheers,
Sabyasachi