Avian predators of the Indian Chameleon

Avian predators of the Indian Chameleon

by Alex Negro Beobachtungen Science

This week, a review paper was published in which an Indian biologist summarizes a series of observations in which birds have attacked chameleons in Sri Lanka and India. These are exclusively observations with Chamaeleo zeylanicus, the Indian chameleon, as prey.

A total of seven birds have already been observed either attacking or eating Chamaeleo zeylanicus between 2012 and 2023. In Bhadreshwar on the western edge of India, a greater coucal (Centropus sinensis) was observed preying on a chameleon. In the Janbughoda Wildlife Sanctuary in eastern India, it was a rufous treepie (Dendrocitta vagabunda) that flew away with a chameleon in its beak and was then photographed eating it. In the Kolli Hills in southern India, a crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela) was observed eating an Indian chameleon. Three other crested serpent eagles were seen hunting in Wilpattu National Park in Sri Lanka. Another observation in the same national park shows the Malabar pied hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus) as a predator of chameleons.

Avian predators of the Indian Chameleon Chamaeleo zeylanicus
Raju Vyas
Biodiversity Observations 15, 2025: 96-98
DOI: 10.15641/bo.152

Photo: Rufous treepie eating an Indian chameleon, the photo was taken from the open source publication mentioned above

What do chameleons eat?

What do chameleons eat?

by Alex Negro Internationaler Chamäleontag

Most chameleons are insectivorous, i.e. they feed on insects, arachnids, arthropods and other small animals. Depending on their size, their diet can range from flies, moths, wasps, butterflies and grasshoppers to praying mantises or spiders. Small, ground-dwelling chameleons in particular also feed on woodlice, springtails and aphids. The largest chameleons, on the other hand, do not spurn the occasional small bird or gecko. As many travellers and chameleon keepers have observed, chameleons are opportunists when it comes to food. If a young chameleon is nearby and it would fit well in their mouth, they will sometimes shoot a much smaller fellow chameleon off a branch and eat it. Fortunately, this is not the rule. A few chameleon species are also known to eat plant leaves from time to time. For centuries, chameleons were thought to be pure ambush hunters. In fact, this is not quite true. They are so-called “cruise foragers”, that don’t just wait in one place for food, but go hunting at a very leisurely pace.

#show your colours #internationalchameleonday #chameleonday #chameleondayMay9 #agchamaeleons

Picture: Chamaeleo chamaeleon schießt ein Insekt in Kapıçam National Park, Türkei; Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, fotografiert von Mkrc85