Published in: Malabar Trogon 18(1): 57. PDF

The morning of 05 June 2020 was pleasant and overcast. Outside our apartment in Tali, Kozhikode, Kerala, India, a Greater Coucal Centropus sinensis had just caught a moth caterpillar from the drumstick tree, Moringa oleifera. It ate the first one sitting at the tree after getting rid of the caterpillar’s stinging hairs. For the next caterpillar the coucal decided to take the snack away and eat it comfortably perched on the roof of the house opposite to the tree. Once it got there, it placed the caterpillar down next to it and spent a moment in contemplation. But within that momentary lapse of alertness, a White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis, which had apparently been watching the coucal’s activity from a vantage point nearby, swooped down calling out harshly and snatched the caterpillar. Taken by surprise, the coucal flew back to the tree. The kingfisher beat the caterpillar once or twice to get rid of the hairs but it somehow could not make itself eat it (may be these caterpillars are not its usual/preferred prey). It left the caterpillar crawling about on the edge of the terrace. Soon after, a Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos investigated the caterpillar as if to judge whether it was snack-worthy but decided otherwise and left. The coucal, meanwhile, ate another caterpillar from the tree before flying off. The kingfisher flew after it, possibly to pull off the same trick on the timid coucal.

This episode lasting around 15 minutes was observed by Prema Viswanathan and the above note has been written based on her description. From a distance the caterpillar seemed to be of a whitish colour. The identity of the caterpillar is unknown as no photographs were taken nor were any other caterpillars noticed on the tree until the time of writing (24 June 2020). Having had a hat trick of escapes, the wonder here is whether the caterpillar found its Moringa tree again by attempting the adventurous journey of a few meters from the roof to the tree.