Photo by Alok Tewari
Delhi, India, June-2015
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.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Six races recognised with two in Africa[1]:
- A. b. cenchroides:
- Azerbaijan to Kazakstan, Iran and north-western India
- A. b. dussumieri:
- Central India and Bangladesh
- A. b. badius:
- South-western India and Sri Lanka
- A. b. poliopsis:
- A. b. sphenurus:
- Senegambia to south-western Arabia, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and northern Tanzania
- A. b. polyzonoides:
- Southern Democratic Republic of the Congo and southern Tanzania to northern South Africa
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".
Vocalisation
<flashmp3>shikra_call.mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
Recording by Alok Tewari
Faridabad, Haryana, India, Dec-2016
Call recorded on a busy urban road.
Gallery
Click on photo for larger image
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- BF Member observations
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved May 2015)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Shikra. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Shikra
External Links
