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 do not have the wherewithal such as powerful large bills and shock-absorber adaptations to their skulls. Barbets can also avoid the very arduous task of hole drilling by grabbing a nest cavity freshly drilled by a woodpecker! Both the barbets take turns to drill the nest hole and later share in incubation duties. Between two to four eggs are laid by the female and the nesting season is normally in the months of March to May. The nest is sometimes bare at the bottom of the hole or lined with some of the wood chips carved out by the parents. Anuj Jain, an apparel retailer of Sector 17 and an accomplished wildlife photographer, has had the good fortune of barbets nesting right opposite his Sector 18 residence. 'In March 2020, during the Covid lockdown, I spotted a barbet spitting out wood chips while excavating a nest in a tree right in front of my house. I was fortunate to capture a few photos at the time. It wasn't until more than five years later that I witnessed something similar again. This time, a pair was taking turns preparing their nest. One would spend less than five minutes chiseling the wood, while the other waited right at the entrance, ready to switch. It was mesmerising to watch the dedicated parents work tirelessly through the day to make the nest suitable for future progeny," Jain told this writer....