Day 61 - Shikra, finally!

 Hear it all the time.  or maybe sometimes it is the drongo mimicking th Shikra, but finally spotted it on the murangika maram.

The previous evening, the parakeets were screeching their heads off - more than they usually do, and were flying around in great consternation.  I wonder if they were raising the alarm for this raptor.  Then the next morning, it was the turn of the Babblers - those Save Sisters who are always having a to to say.  Well they sounded unamused and seemed even more grumbly than usual.

So I poked my window out of the window, and this what I saw.

A Male Shikra (Tachyspiza badia). 

There seem to be many in  the city, suddenly.  The other day, we were in Kilpauk, and we spotted another one fly into a tree and then descend to the ground - probably feeding on termites.

Very much a bird of India - the name derives from the Hindi shikari or hunter.

Red iris is male, yellow iris is female.  Those fine lines across the upper chest, I was able to see nice and close.

I could see the nostrils under the yellow "cere" - that yellow fleshy part where the beak meets the body.  All birds have it, but in raptors it has an additional job I think of protection.  

If you notice, one leg seemed tucked into the body, probably resting that foot?  In cold climes birds do this to conserve heat, but not in Chennai I am sure.  Maybe, he was keeping one leg cool!

And the other leg emerged, when he had to scratch his head. Only to promptly disappear again!

Nice to finally get good pictures of our locally shikari.  Some benefits of looking out of the window.