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A Cannibal Caterpillar?

April 11, 2013 at 7:27 am / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

On September 22 2012, I encountered this caterpillar eating another fuzzy insect part along the White Trail of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens, GA. While the munching was going on, a familiar bully of the bushes the ground beetle (Calleida punctata) came in. The beetle harassed and eventually forced the caterpillar away from the leaf. I desperately needed help in explaining the sequence of events happening in this video. Why was the ground beetle so interested in […]

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Nesting Chestnut Mandibled Toucan (Ramphastos swainsonii)

April 9, 2012 at 11:27 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Filmed and edited by by Jean and Phil Slosberg in 2010 the captured footage reflects a slice of natural history of chestnut-mandibled toucans. Slosbergs were able to record the nest preparation, parental care and nest maintenance phases from their home in Costa Rica. They note that after a successful breeding season the pair tried to nest in the same tree again in 2011 but were not successful because meliponid stingless bees have taken over the cavity. They attempted to clean […]

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Ants – Nature’s Secret Power (2006)

January 29, 2012 at 11:23 am / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Ants, bees and wasps make up only 3 percent of animal diversity yet they may constitute up to 50 percent of the total animal biomass in land habitats. Bert Hölldobler is a leading entomologist (scientist who studies insects). He collaborated with ant biologist E.O. Wilson and developed the field of Sociobiology. The documentary does an excellent job introducing us observations coming from both natural and laboratory setting. First observation comes from the European red wood ants (Formica polyctena). These ants […]

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Nesting Nightjar in Camouflage

January 16, 2012 at 11:25 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

This is an excellent footage capturing the behavior of a ground nesting nightjar. These birds are night-flying aerial insectivores active during dusk and dawn. It is almost impossible to see them during the day because of their camouflage. Nightjars are also known as goatsuckers which has no biological basis. If an intruder comes dangerously close to the nest, adults perform a well-known “broken wing” display. It is an excellent visual distraction. The bird will easily disappear soon after the intruder is at a […]

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Daytime Hunting of Barred Owl (Strix varia)

January 16, 2012 at 10:42 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

On April 16th 2011, a barred owl glided over my head while I was filming something else along the Orange Trail of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens, GA. Hunting during daytime indicates that this individual has extra mouths to feed. You can hear the altruistic alarm calls of other nervous birds and rodents. The high pitched alarm call (of a chipmunk?) is particularly audible immediately before each move of the owl. I deliberately kept the scenes long […]

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