Booted eagle - Birds of Mount Abu JANUARY 2019 mountabubirds.blogspot.com

Booted eagle - Hieraaetus pennatus

17 January 2019.

Booted eagle - Hieraaetus pennatus (Dark morph)

Booted eagle - Hieraaetus pennatus (light morph)

Booted eagle - Hieraaetus pennatus 

The Raptors are here preying from the Abu sky,

The Booted Eagle with its flashy white headlights,

All the way from Europe loses his way to the 

The abode of the Gods. He comes in two hues. light morph from below,

And the dark morph, which usually winters in India.

The booted eagle is a medium-sized mostly migratory bird of prey with a wide distribution in the Palearctic and southern Asia. Here in Mount Abu, it's probably a vagrant or winter passage migrant. Not a commonly seen eagle here. To read more on this bird click:Here

Booted eagle over the years

⇓⇓

Shikra Birds of Mount Abu JANUARY 2019 mountabubirds.blogspot.com

Birds of Mount Abu JANUARY 2019

Shikra Accipiter badius

4 January 2019

Shikra Accipiter badius   - Juvenile

Shikra Accipiter badius   -Female

Shikra Accipiter badius   -Female

Shikra the swiftest of the small predators,

With claws drawn, strikes like lightning,

Whizzing through bushes snaring his prey,

Most feared amongst small birds all the way.

As youngsters, we called the Shikra the sparrow hawk. In Rajasthan, the bird is considered a shikari (hunter) for its small size the Shikra is considered a ferocious raptor. It can take on birds twice its size. Most birds skedaddle when the hunter is around. The ever-alert bulbul and the long-tailed shrike, act like sentinels warning the other feathered bird of an impending attack by the Shikra. The only species is the fierce jungle babbler that gangs up to literally chase the shikra from an area where they are flocked together.  The Shikra is a residential bird of Mount Abu.

Shikra over the years

⇓⇓