This paper reports the foraging behavior of five insectivorous birds, namely White-breasted Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis, Small Bee-eater Merops orientalis, Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis, Common Myna Acridotheres tristis and Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus in Nagapattinam District of Tamil Nadu, India.The birds used a variety of perch types for hunting insect prey; in general the electric power line was a common malibu relaxer perch type used by all species except the Common Myna.The perching and foraging height used by birds were classified into 3 meter categories, up to 12m.Aerial feeding or hawking in Bee-eaters and ground feeding in Common timbren gmfk25s Mynas were major feeding techniques, recorded 68% and 86% of the time respectively.The other three species used gleaning as a feeding technique.
The highest niche overlap was recorded between Indian Rollers and Black Drongos and between White-breasted Kingfishers and Indian Rollers.