Black Drongo

  A black bird with the fork V shaped tail is a resident of India. Photographically this is a very tough bird to expose, I generally prefer to wait til the light is about to harsh and then make images. This gives the sheen in the black feathers of the bird, as sheen here. While driving through one can observe these get extremely interested and approach very close to your vehicle. They do that hawk the insects and other prey like grasshoppers, bees, ants, termites, dragonflies etc. The adult black drongo is identified by a white spot at the base of its gape line (mouth) as can be seen in this picture. They are really aggressive and fearless birds and have seen on numerous occasions they have much bigger eagles, buzzards, hawks etc.

Changeable hawk-eagle – Attitude

The stare , the look and attitude of a bold raptor, that’s what we saw with this individual. As with the tradition whenever we have seen a CHE perched in the open like this we have always spotted a tiger next. We did see the tiger tank female’s cubs after seeing this individual :-). A medium sized raptor that is seen in the southern and southeast Asian forests. This prefers well wooded areas sitting in the open branches under the forest canopy scanning for prey. The reason for the name changeable is because the occurrence of more than one form / morph of the bird. This eagle feeds on a variety of prey that includes birds, mammals, snakes and lizards. One of the most widespread and common Asiatic hawk-eagle species, their status is classified as least concern by IUCN.

Changeable hawk-eagle, Kabini

  Changeable hawk-eagle, a medium sized raptor that is seen in the southern and southeast Asian forests. This prefers well wooded areas sitting in the open branches under the forest canopy scanning for prey. The reason for the name changeable is because the occurrence of more than one form / morph of the bird. This eagle feeds on a variety of prey that includes birds, mammals, snakes and lizards. One of the most widespread and common Asiatic hawk-eagle species, their status is classified as least concern by IUCN

Changeable hawk eagle – Juv

Changeable hawk eagle – Juv A juvenile changeable hawk eagle. This was perched right by the safari / game drive route. It was busy scanning the prey, the evening light was divine. The bird was very comfortable with our presence as can be seen in the picture – resting in one leg. This is a sign of the bird resting to conserve energy.