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| Female Shikra |
It was Monday morning and accidentally my wife saw a bird which flew to the ground, caught hold of a squirrel and flew up on a jambu tree in front of my house. We like or say love bird watching. We started watching the activities of the bird. It very silently but majestically caught hold of its prey, waited patiently and enjoyed the food.
It made itself comfortable, safe, almost hiding in the greens of the tree. It took nearly 2 hrs to finish his meal. Then with krik…. Krick sound it made and flew away. Being amature in photography we were able capture a few.. on our camera.
We did know which bird it was. We thought it could be a kite or eagle.With the help of birding friends we came to know that it is a“shikra”
Few things learnt by group about the bird:
This is one among the Bird of prey. The ‘bird of prey’ is known to be birds which have good vision to find prey and strong feet for holding and strong curved beak for tearing the flesh.
They are also called as “Raptors” the word derived from latin rapere (meaning to seize or take by force).
The examples for bird of prey or generally called Raptors are Eagles, kites, Vultures, Falcons, owels ect…
The Shikra (Accipiter badius) is a small bird of prey widely distributed in Asia and Africa where it is also called the Little Banded Goshawk.
The Shikra is found in a range of habitats including forests, farmland and urban areas. They are usually seen singly or in pairs. The flight is typical with flaps and glides. Their flight usually draws alarms among smaller birds and squirrels. They feed on rodents, squirrels, small birds, small reptiles mainly lizards but sometimes small snakes and insects.
