Snake eats baby bird

When a Golden Tree Snake (Chrysopelea ornata) appears near the nest of a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, trouble looms.

The tree hole belongs to the nest of a pair of Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, with probably one nestling inside that refuge . However, Southeast Asia is home to a few species of arboreal tree snakes, and some of these inevitably will look for avian nests and feed on small birds. The Golden Tree Snake, one of the few arboreal snakes capable of gliding flight but is not a native snake to Singapore (probably introduced via the pet trade), had managed to locate the nest of a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker. And while the parent birds are away, the Golden Tree Snake sneaked in to pull out the baby bird.....

In the later part of the video, the parent birds would attempt to swipe (while in flight) and peck at the Golden Tree Snake, but to no avail.

This nest has remained empty till today (Nov 2021), unfortunately.

Pls note that this is an act of nature, and I am not in a position to interfere (anyway this hole is several metres up in the tree; no way I can reach it). I was there to film a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker (notified by a friend), hoping to document its wonderful vocals and its super fast wood-pecking behaviour, like this individual at a nearby location (   • Calls of a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker (pe...  ), but I was caught by surprise by the presence of a Golden Tree Snake.

This was recorded by Matthew Lim ([email protected]) at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore in May 2021.

Filmed with Nikon Z6ii, 200-500mm, ZTC, TC1.4

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