Parakeets chase off a monitor lizard, Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India - 17 Apr 2024
A pair of feathered troublemakers give this lizard a run for his scales! A duo of rose-ringed parakeets disrupt the peace as they attempt to chase off a monitor lizard within Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan.
These pictures were captured by Rathika Ramasamy, age 54. She said, "I was sitting on the road and photographing the birds in the park. Suddenly on the right side, I saw a monitor lizard running for his life as a rose-ringed parakeet was aggressively attacking the lizard. Monitor lizards are egg thieves and eat Rose-ringed Parakeet eggs from the nest. When it comes to their chicks, birds are just as protective as humans."
"Compared to the monitor lizard, the Parakeet's size is small, but it knows how to attack, the tail is a sensitive part of the Lizard, and it was trying to scare it off. The National Park is a World Heritage Site, blessed with a great diversity of habitats, it supports an amazing variety of fauna and flora. It is popularly known as a 'bird paradise' over 370 bird species have been recorded in the park."