Hello readers, I hope you are enjoying beautiful
weather, especially in Mumbai. Let me tell you that this is the best season to
enjoy birding all over India. Birds from all various places migrate to India
in this season hence try to grab this opportunity to experience the best
time of the year. You can visit Bharatpur, Velavdar, Little run of kutch,
Dandeli etc and if you wish to visit within Mumbai city then visit Bhandup
Pumping Station, Seawoods, Karnala, SGNP.
Since this is a birding season let me talk about the bird,
which you may have not heard of a killer bird with unique habits that will surely
instigate you to explore birding places in this season. Let us move to the next section to see the qualities of this unique bird.
Smallest bird of prey
The first time we were lucky to sight this bird at Jim
Corbett where we saw a couple of them sitting on a tree branch with a kill, let us
see some of its unique habits of killing prey
The specialty of the bird is killer behavior
with its size, normally we can see raptors as large or huge in size like
eagles, vultures, Owls, Osprey, Falcon, etc., but here Falconet is smallest
amongst the raptors but equally well versed to attack the prey
The Collared Falconet hunts from perch,
searching actively from prey by turning the head rapidly. It performs several
foraging sallies, and the prey is usually caught up to 50 meters from the
perch. However, insects are often caught in the air
It forages by short flights from perches, often
dead branches, and returns to the perch to eat the prey. It hunts like a
flycatcher or a small shrike rather than a falcon
The Collared Falconet may sometimes hunt in
small groups of 1-7 individuals, but usually close to the nighttime roosts. It
is often more active at dusk when it can catch moths
The preys include large insects such as
butterflies, dragonflies, grasshoppers, beetles, and cicadas, but it also takes
small birds, lizards, and small mammals
After knowing its attacking behavior let us see
many more facts of this lovely colorful raptor in the next section
Colorful facts
The collared falconet (Microhierax
caerulescens) is a species of bird of prey in the Falconidae family. It is 18
cm long. Rapid wing beats are interspersed with long glides. When perched,
"rather shrike-like"
The collared falconet is a very small
falcon, shrike-like in shape, mainly pied and having bold white super cilia and
collar, with a relatively heavy double-toothed bill. On the head, crown, nape,
and ear-covert patch are black. Forehead, eyebrow, and malar stripe are white
The “toothed” bill is blackish with
pale grey cere. The eyes are dark brown, surrounded by pale grey eyering. Legs
and feet are dark greys to blackish
The female is slightly larger than the male. She has more white on the wings and less prominent nuchal collar
It has short wings, a medium-length
tail, strong half-feathered legs, and powerful feet
It perches conspicuously on top or
edge of tree or bush, often on a dead twig, frequently bobbing head and slowly
moving tail up and down; wing-tips less than halfway down the tail
It roosts and nests in cavities,
usually abandoned by other bird species, Falconet is often seen alone or in
pairs and in small groups
The Collared Falconet uses a hole made by a
woodpecker or a barbet, usually placed between 7 and 12 meters above the
ground. It may occasionally use hollows in buildings or natural holes in trees.
The hole is half-filled with a layer of dried leaves and insect parts
Do let me know if you need any help to
visit any of these places, get in touch with me on btwildart@gmail.com
Learning
of the day
State
Bird of Bihar
House
sparrow- The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a bird of the sparrow family
Passeridae, found in most parts of the world
BT Wild Art
DSLR Section
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