Environmental Portrait

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Created this image of an adult male Shikra in Bandhavgarh National Park. There were lots of worms in the ground below the mahua trees and were attracting lots of insectivorous and also a few raptors.

I am quoting from Grimmett and Inskipp:

Scientific name: Accipiter badius Height: 30-36cm

Adults paler than Besra and Eurasian Sparrowhawk. Underwing pale, with fine barring on remiges, and slightly darker wing-tips.

Male has pale blue-grey upperparts, indistinct grey gular stripe, fine brownish-orange barring on underparts, unbarred white thighs, and unbarred or only lightly barred central tail feathers.

Upperparts of female are more brownish grey. Juvenile has pale brown upperparts, more prominent gular stripe, and streaked underparts; distinguished from juvenile Besra by paler upper parts and narrower tail barring, and from Eurasian Sparrowhawk by streaked underparts.

The subspecies A.b. badius, which occurs in Kerala, is darker grey above, and underparts are more heavily barred with rufous, and is therefore more similar in appearance to Besra (less pronounced gular stripe, absence of streaking on breast, plainer upper tail, and less heavily barred underwing are still useful features separating it from that species).

Habitat: Open woods and groves.

Canon EOS 1D Mark II, Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM, EF 2x II ie. at 800mm, f8, 1/320, ISO 200.

Let me know your thoughts on this.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi