EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Kleptoparasitism at the Nest

Small Indian Kite (= Pariah Kite, Black Kite) (Milvus migrans govinda), Family Accipitridae
Guwahati, Assam, India

Explanation:  This week is a lesson in the hard work to build a home, and the thieves that plunder.

The star this week is the Black Kite, a common resident of countryside and urban areas throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia.  This particular resident of northeast India is a subspecies (Milvus migrans govinda) still commonly referred to there as the Pariah Kite, although the term pariah is an older denigration of some of the past lower castes of the region (from which we get the term outcast) and probably should not be used in that sense.  The newer, alternate name for this subspecies is Small Indian Kite.  Additionally, the (non-referential) word pariah means outcast.

So we'll call it the Small Indian Kite.  OK, on with the lesson ...

In the natural world, many animals steal from other animals (hmm, including humans, but that's not for here).  This is especially true with food.  But this week we will see another form of what is generally called kleptoparasitism in ecology -- klepto (as in kleptomaniac) for stealing, parasitism for imposing onto another organisms -- or, overall, stealing from another.  (In ecology, we often like to use lofty-sounding terms ... )

So there I was, on a balcony in a hotel in Guwahati, Assam, northeast India, overlooking the mighty Brahmaputra River along a bank of tall trees, watching this Small Indian Kite work hard at relaying sticks to build its nest atop the tallest tree.

The kite seemed focused on his work, and was rather oblivious to a spectator perched directly nearby, a common House Crow (Corvus splendens):

The crow seemed passive, but was intent on watching the kite's every move:
  

  
... And with virtually every delivery the kite made to its nest location, the crow would snatch the latest branch and deliver it to ITS own site, thus building its nest from the hard work of the kite!  
  

  
And there you have it, kleptoparasitism at the nest, by one sneaky corvid who plundered the work of another denizen of this riverside habitat.