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Difference between revisions of "Shikra" - BirdForum Opus

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[[Image:Shikra.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Photo by {{user|Rakesh|Rakesh}}<br />Hebbal, [[Bangalore]], December 2005]]
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[[Image:Shikra.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Photo by {{user|Rakesh|Rakesh}}<br />Hebbal, Bangalore, [[India]], December 2005]]
 
'''Alternative name: Little Banded Goshawk'''
 
'''Alternative name: Little Banded Goshawk'''
 
;[[:Category:Accipiter|Accipiter]] badius
 
;[[:Category:Accipiter|Accipiter]] badius
  
 
==Identification==
 
==Identification==
25–44·5 cm long<br />
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25–44·5 cm (9¾-17½ in) long<br />
 
*Short broad wings and a long tail
 
*Short broad wings and a long tail
 
*Grey orbital ring
 
*Grey orbital ring
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Status in the Western Palearctic is difficult to determine but known to have bred once in southern [[Azerbaijan]] in 1933 but not confirmed since. May be present regularly in south-east Transcaucasia and has been recorded as a vagrant in [[Israel]] and a bird thought to be a hybrid Shikra x [[Levant Sparrowhawk]] has also been recorded there.
 
Status in the Western Palearctic is difficult to determine but known to have bred once in southern [[Azerbaijan]] in 1933 but not confirmed since. May be present regularly in south-east Transcaucasia and has been recorded as a vagrant in [[Israel]] and a bird thought to be a hybrid Shikra x [[Levant Sparrowhawk]] has also been recorded there.
[[Image:089 Gavil n chikra - Mapungubwe.JPG|thumb|350px|right|Subspecies ''polyzonoides''<br />Photo by {{user|Riqui|Riqui}}<br />Mapungubwe NP South Africa, July 2009]]
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[[Image:089 Gavil n chikra - Mapungubwe.JPG|thumb|350px|right|Subspecies ''polyzonoides''<br />Photo by {{user|Riqui|Riqui}}<br />Mapungubwe National Park, [[South Africa]], July 2009]]
 
==Taxonomy==
 
==Taxonomy==
 
====Subspecies====
 
====Subspecies====
Line 44: Line 44:
 
====Flight====
 
====Flight====
 
The normal flight of this species is a characteristic "flap –flap– glide".
 
The normal flight of this species is a characteristic "flap –flap– glide".
 +
==Gallery==
 +
Click on photo for larger image
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
 
Image:Shikra juvenile.jpg|Juvenile<br />Photo by {{user|Steve+G|Steve G}}<br />Hunas Falls Hotel, [[Sri Lanka]], August 2009  
 
Image:Shikra juvenile.jpg|Juvenile<br />Photo by {{user|Steve+G|Steve G}}<br />Hunas Falls Hotel, [[Sri Lanka]], August 2009  
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
 
==References==
 
==References==
#{{Ref-Clements6thAug14}}#BF Member observations
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#{{Ref-Clements6thAug15}}#BF Member observations
 
#Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved May 2015)
 
#Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved May 2015)
 
{{ref}}
 
{{ref}}

Revision as of 22:33, 19 February 2016

Photo by Rakesh
Hebbal, Bangalore, India, December 2005

Alternative name: Little Banded Goshawk

Accipiter badius

Identification

25–44·5 cm (9¾-17½ in) long

  • Short broad wings and a long tail
  • Grey orbital ring

Similar species

Eurasian Sparrowhawk shows a yellow orbital ring.

Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia.

In Africa breeds from Senegal, Gambia and southern Mauritania east to Ethiopia and western Somalia and south to South Africa. Absent from the closed forests of Central Africa and the most arid areas of the south-west. Resident.

In Asia breeds from Iran and Pakistan south to southern India and Sri Lanka and north to Kazakhstan and the far west of China. Range extends eastwards to southern China and Hainan and south to southern Thailand. Northern populations are migratory, wintering from Iran to India and South-East Asia. Vagrants recorded in Malaya and Sumatra.

Status in the Western Palearctic is difficult to determine but known to have bred once in southern Azerbaijan in 1933 but not confirmed since. May be present regularly in south-east Transcaucasia and has been recorded as a vagrant in Israel and a bird thought to be a hybrid Shikra x Levant Sparrowhawk has also been recorded there.

Subspecies polyzonoides
Photo by Riqui
Mapungubwe National Park, South Africa, July 2009

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Six races recognised with two in Africa[1]:

  • A. b. cenchroides:
  • A. b. dussumieri:
  • A. b. badius:
  • A. b. poliopsis:
  • A. b. sphenurus:
  • A. b. polyzonoides:
  • Southern Democratic Republic of the Congo and southern Tanzania to northern South Africa
Juvenile
Photo by tombac
Hua Hin, Thailand, August 2011

Habitat

Forest, woodlands and wooded steppes, cultivated areas and often close to human habitation.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists mostly of lizards, gheckos, skinks and small birds.

Flight

The normal flight of this species is a characteristic "flap –flap– glide".

Gallery

Click on photo for larger image

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. BF Member observations
  3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved May 2015)

Recommended Citation

External Links


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