Brilliant Dr. Oudhia. Thank you for sharing your amazing experiences in these amazing video-clips. Though I may have mentioned 'marauding tribals', on point of fact, it is more likely to be wanton destruction by local village lads out for an evening of fun. Unortunately have not been able to establish any real rapport with the tribals due to time constraints [ I do not stay there but visit whenever possible on Sundays] and the language barrier. With regards, Neil Soares.
--- On Tue, 3/27/12, Pankaj Oudhia <[email protected]> wrote: From: Pankaj Oudhia <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [efloraofindia:111945] My experiment with Nesting Boxes To: "efloraofindia" <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 1:21 PM Thanks Neil ji for sharing the great experiment. "Marauding tribals trashed many of the boxes" Next time you can take help of these tribals while designing the nest. In Chhattisgarh, natives of Kamar Tribe consume birds but they know how to conserve it in best way so that it can remain available for future generation i.e. Sustainable Hunting. Please watch this video for the specially design arrow for birds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cw77SDWRlI regards Pankaj Oudhia On Tue, Mar 27, 2012 at 1:11 PM, Neil Soares <[email protected]> wrote: Hi, Thought this might be interesting : In 2007 I undertook this pilot study on my forested property at Shahapur, 100 kms north of Bombay. https://picasaweb.google.com/113756149687515321536?feat=email Ten nesting boxes were constructed in August 2007 and were put up in-situ in December 2007 [Please see Nesting Boxes 1 in the link]. In photograph 2 – - the top left was meant for Mynas - the top middle was for Woodpeckers - the top right for Barn Owls - the boxes in the lower row were for cavity nesters / hole-nesting birds. The study has carried on to the present day. My observations: [Please see Nesting Boxes 2 in the link]. - Most of the openings of the nesting-boxes were enlarged either by squirrels or other rodents [ photograph 1] - Perches on the nesting boxes had to be removed in some to discourage squirrel activity [photograph 1]. - Marauding tribals trashed many of the boxes [photograph 2] either out of curiosity or to get at the squirrel drey’s inside [photograph 5]. - Trashed nesting boxes were at times repaired and reused [photograph 3] - Only one nesting box was used for the purpose for which they were meant – a pair of Oriental Magpie-robins managed 2 broods in one year [2009] and that too in a trashed box [photograph 4]. - Many other animals used the boxes [photographs 5 -14]. At present only one nesting-box remains. As the experiment was a relative failure, I have terminated it. With regards, Neil Soares. P.S. – My thanks to Jayesh Timbadia for creating this link and also for assisting me in this study
