ACACIA PIED BARBET NESTS

(Niall Perrins and Kenn Wynne-Dyke had some interesting correspondence on capebirdnet.  We thought that it is well worth posting.  - Ed.)

Following Kenn Wynne-Dyke’s posting about Barbet houses on Cape Birdnet last year, we put up a nesting log last spring – it was discovered within hours by a pair of Black-collared Barbets who quickly hollowed out the log and took up residence. They raised at least two young and all four continued to use the nest log as a roost for quite a while afterwards. They are still around the garden, but have given up on the nesting log – the other week I found out why – bees had taken over! I was sitting outside one afternoon and saw a small bird with distinctive white outer tail feathers – Lesser Honeyguide! It had discovered the bees and this was obviously an easy source of food. It was quite skittish, so trying to get close to it with the camera proved impossible. This weekend I heard the distinctive call of the Honeyguide, but again it didn’t stick around. When I got back from walking the dogs this morning I put out a few “vrot” apples for the Barbets – while doing this I looked up to see the Honeyguide having a good look at what I was up to. It seems to have become a little braver, and invited it’s mate along for a feast of bee larvae, enabling me to get a few pics, although the winter sun has moved around sufficiently to make it extremely difficult to get a good angle on them. I posted some pics on my website: www.niall.co.za – I hope to get the birds in a bit better light before the bees and they move on.

Cheers

Niall Perrins

Hi Niall and netters

Quite exciting having barbets in your garden, hey!!! Also interesting to see the Lesser Honeyguides around. I had them lay an egg in my Pied Barbets nest in Durbanville and only realised this when the little blighter stuck it's head out of the nest. It is possible that the barbets evacuated the nest log because they had broken through the bottom. This is the most common reason. Each morning when they remove the night's poohs they bring out a bundle of sawdust from the bottom of the nestlog, so gradually the hole gets deeper and deeper until they break right through. What I did was to wait for them to both leave the nestlog in the morning (not when chicks are inside) and then put a piece of wire into the hole until it reaches the bottom and then compare that length against the outside of the nestlog to see how close they are to the bottom.

I presume that you are not in Cape Town, Niall, as we don't normally have Black-collared Barbets here, only Acacia Pied Barbets.

I would be interested to know whether you attached the nestlog in a vertical position or 45 degree angle. The APBs, I believe, prefer the vertical position while BCBs apparently prefer the 45 degree angle under a sloping branch. The latter information I got from the tag which was attached to my first nestlog bought in Bellville near Cape Town many years ago, but which came from up country and showed a picture of a Black-colllared Barbet. When I installed this original log in my Durbanville garden the APB inspected it but would not use it, so it changed the angle to vertical and straight away had success. There are still APBs in Durbanville but sadly none in the suburbs of Somerset West were I now live, but I have a prepared nestlog stored away for the day when I hear their call.

Best wishes

Ken Wynne-Dyke

021 855 4931

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