BABBLER NEST PARASITISM BY INDIAN HAWK CUCKOO

Nest parasitism is an established phenomenon by most cuckoos. The babbler, Turdoides caudatus build their nests on trees and uses the grasses, fine twigs and grass blades as nesting material. Most of the Nests possessed two eggs. The parasitized nests contained only one cuckoo chick. The size of hawk cuckoo and its feeding demands were higher as compared to the babbler chicks. Study of nest parasitism behavior of hawk cuckoo on babbler will help in development of conservation strategies for the two species.