Black shouldered kite at Sholinganallur

Photo by Mr Ramanan

Elanus caeruleus 

A beautiful capture by Mr Ramanan, of a black-shouldered kite, seen on a wire at Sholinganallur.    It seems to be fixing Mr Ramanan with a piercing look!

This smaller bird of prey has an interesting habit of hovering, like the pied kingfisher.

On the open plains at Bharatpur, we would regularly see them almost stationery in the sky as they hovered over, looking for small prey like rodents, frogs and lizards.