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Thread: Greater Coucal: carrying Eucaliptus leaves (Medicinal plant in India).

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    Default Greater Coucal: carrying Eucaliptus leaves (Medicinal plant in India).

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    In the month of Sep-October, 2012, I have observed that Greater Coucal was carrying Eucaliptus leaves (Medicinal plant in India) to his nest for 8-10 days.
    The pests, like Lice, Ticks etc. are a major threat to lives of birds, especially nest raising chicks. Several species of birds have been observed,( both in India, UK and USA) intentionally or intuitively, to stack & line the nests with Aromatic and Pungent plant parts, like Leaves, Bark, Flowers etc. A Controlled Study programme of this behavior has been done and it is leading us to conclude that “Birds do line their nests with Aromatic & Pungent “plant parts for Sanitation purpose. It is not very far from being accepted and studies in various other species will also be of Research Interest in Nesting Behavior. So the Coucal carrying the equalyptus leaves to Sanitise it's nest is a Good document for such studies.
    ISO: 400, 1/3200 @ F: 5.6.Evaluating metering. Exposure bias: +0.3.
    White balance: Auto. HH. Canon: 550D, 400mm.
    Thanks for viewing and appreciation. C & C are highly appreciated.
    Kind Regards.

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    Interesting behavior Satish, and a great shot as well, I've not heard of birds doing this kind of thing for sanitation purposes. Oddly enough in Australia = the home of the Eucalyptus tree, I don't know of any birds that use these leaves for lining their nest, but it's something to investigate further.

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    Great shot and interesting behaviour. I love that eye! It made me think of a bit of news I just heard a couple of days ago. St Andrews University scientists studied nests of house sparrows and house finches in Mexico City and found that each contained, on average, about 10 used cigarette butts, thought to kill lice, mites and pests and provide insulation. Yours makes for a much nicer image :-)

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    Nice example of this Satish. There are probably lots of others. Swallows put a common plant called yarrow in their nests because it has insecticidal and natural pesticidal properties, thus reducing ectoparasite populations of species such as lice and ticks.

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    Quote Originally Posted by John Chardine View Post
    Nice example of this Satish. There are probably lots of others. Swallows put a common plant called yarrow in their nests because it has insecticidal and natural pesticidal properties, thus reducing ectoparasite populations of species such as lice and ticks.
    Thank you for the looking image and your feed back ,John.
    Will you provide the scientific name ( any picture) for the plant, so that I will find out ,whether it is available in India?

    Regards,
    Satish.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Gehrisch View Post
    Great shot and interesting behaviour. I love that eye! It made me think of a bit of news I just heard a couple of days ago. St Andrews University scientists studied nests of house sparrows and house finches in Mexico City and found that each contained, on average, about 10 used cigarette butts, thought to kill lice, mites and pests and provide insulation. Yours makes for a much nicer image :-)
    Michael:
    Thanks for the comments.Very nice example given.Not heard before.Cigarette butts probably may have nicotine contains in them,driving away the insects etc...

    Regards,
    Satish.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Satish Ranadive View Post
    Thank you for the looking image and your feed back ,John.
    Will you provide the scientific name ( any picture) for the plant, so that I will find out ,whether it is available in India?

    Regards,
    Satish.
    Hi Satish- Here's a Wiki article on the plant.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achillea_millefolium

    Here's an experimental paper on the subject by a friend Dave Shutler of Acadia University.

    http://www.acadiau.ca/~dshutler/2007JAB.PDF

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    John:
    Thank you very much for the information and the paper.I will go through it.

    Regards,
    Satish.

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