• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Ella, Sri Lanka - Hawk and Cuckoo ID (1 Viewer)

manwa47

Active member
Germany
Dear fellow birders,

this morning, on my way to Ella Rock, I took photos of a hawk and a cuckoo.
Unfortunately the quality is not that great.

I suspect either Shikra, Besra or Crested Goshawk. The hawk seemed to be bigger than a European Sparrow hawk.

The cuckoo looks like the Eurasian ones we have in Germany, especially with the pale iris.
But I'm not sure if they also live here.
As far as I know, Indian cuckoo is supposed to have a dark iris and Common hawk cuckoo has a different pattern.

Thank you for your help!

Best regards
Manuel
 

Attachments

  • PSX_20240928_115107.jpg
    PSX_20240928_115107.jpg
    822.6 KB · Views: 30
  • PSX_20240928_115053.jpg
    PSX_20240928_115053.jpg
    1,022.6 KB · Views: 29
  • PSX_20240928_115036.jpg
    PSX_20240928_115036.jpg
    284.2 KB · Views: 30
  • PSX_20240928_115012.jpg
    PSX_20240928_115012.jpg
    430.9 KB · Views: 26
  • PSX_20240928_114943.jpg
    PSX_20240928_114943.jpg
    113.4 KB · Views: 31
The cuckoo looks more like a Hierococcyx hawk-cuckoo than a Cuculus to me, based on the tail pattern (mostly grey, with narrow black and brown bars and buff tip vs. dark with narrow brown bars or spots on Cuculus), upright posture and what can be seen of head shape/pattern. It looks like Common Hawk-cuckoo is the only species regular in Sri Lanka.
Common Hawk-cuckoo: ML608679627 - Common Hawk-Cuckoo - Macaulay Library
Common Cuckoo: ML359822961 - Common Cuckoo - Macaulay Library

I think I'd favour Shikra for the hawk but I'm not very confident from these photos. It doesn't look like Crested Goshawk, but I'm not sure how the local subspecies of Besra might compare.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top