India, May 11 -- The brown-headed barbet or large green barbet is an animated bird of our gardens. Known in native cultures as the 'Bada basanta', the barbet sets off an incessant call, kor-r-r, kutroo-kutroo-kutroo, with the first whiff of basant's warmth. The call is instantly responded to by others of the barbet 'baradari' and soon an ear-piercing chorus resounds across the groves, somewhat reminiscent of faraway and dreaded sirens of Covid lockdown and the Pakistani drone/ missile crisis!

The barbet and the woodpecker are two of the ecological or ecosystem engineers in our groves. They excavate nest holes in trees. Other birds such as parrots, owls and mynas look for nest holes excavated by woodpeckers and barbets as they themselves ...