Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Shaheen Falcon


A birding trip on the Sunday of 3rd October didn't prove to be very fruitful thanks to an overcast sky. I returned with just an image of a Pied Cuckoo, ranting over how the birds weren't kind to me that day. How wrong I was!

At around 5 in the evening, I stepped out to the balcony in my residence at Arekere, Bannerghatta Road and found a bird perched amidst some pipes, five floors below. I couldn't ID the bird, so I photographed the bird right away, before it could take off. 


A quick look through the bird book and I knew it could either be a Peregrine/Shaheen Falcon or an Oriental Hobby. While the Shaheen Falcon is a breeding resident all over the country, the Oriental Hobby is a resident only in the NE and the Himalayas. The lack of streaks on the breast and belly of the bird caused some amount of confusion.


I messaged a couple of friends, desperate to confirm the ID. While I waited to hear from them, I watched the bird's behavior. It spent a lot of time just sitting still, at times its eyes were closed too and it seemed to be taking a short nap. In the interim, the bird also kept preening.


When I described the bird's colors to a friend, he said it could be a Shaheen Falcon. Though there was a stronger possibility of the bird being a Shaheen Falcon, an Oriental Hobby has been sighted here in Bangalore a decade ago, so the possibility couldn't be ruled out. I processed a couple of images and mailed them to get a better idea of the bird species.


Meanwhile, the bird continued to groom itself. I found it scratching and then fluffing its feathers. It also *pooped* a couple of times. It seemed as if the bird had fed and was taking some time off from flying. Loud and large groups of Pigeons didn't disturb it, neither did a bunch of Black Kites hovering above.


Thanks to the bad viewing angle, it became quite difficult to judge the size of the bird, but I was quite sure it was a little larger than a Shikra and an Oriental Hobby would have been smaller. A year ago, during the months of September - October, my Father had photographed a similar bird in the building, perched on a bicycle, 6 floors below. The image was from a point and shoot camera, with about 3x optical zoom. He remembers how crows tried to mob the bird and it took off, like a jet.


More discussions with friends and it was confirmed that the bird is a Shaheen Falcon (Falco peregrinus peregrinator), an Indian subspecies of the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus). 
The bird spent more than 40 minutes on the perch and then quietly bid adieu, its a pity I missed the take-off.


And now, I wait for the Falcon to make its next visit..

18 comments:

  1. Wooooow...coming over to your apartment immi-jet-ly! :)

    Lovely post and considering the difficulty, very nice photos!

    Deepa.

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  2. HI Radha,

    Nice and interesting post... hope so it would itself very soon....

    Rajashekar

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  3. Nice and interesting post... Hope so it would show itself very soon...

    Rajashekar

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  4. Here's hoping the falcon makes it a habit of visiting you!nice post:)

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  5. Oh wonderful.

    I think, I would have gone to the floor where it could have got the eyelevel view of this, great observation for 40mins.

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  6. @Deepa - Thank you, you are welcome anytime :)

    @Shekar,@Ranjini - Thank you :)

    @Shiva Shankar - Thank you! The thought did cross my mind, but that would mean knocking at a stranger's door and asking for access to their balcony :)

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  7. Made for a nice read... Very lucky to have observed the bird for so long! :)

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  8. Good sighting and post. Where is your apartment located?

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  9. @Subbu - Thank you!
    My apartment is located in Arekere Mico Layout, Off Bannerghatta Road

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  10. U stay near Bannerghatta rd ... hmmm interesting ... always thought somewhere near JP ngr ...

    Anyway .... nice post .. gripping .. i wanted to kno what family it was .. too :P

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  11. Hi Radha,

    Lovely post and pics! Lucky you - to see a shaheen falcon without stepping out :))

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  12. @Santo - Thank you :) Moved here over a year ago.

    @Uma - Thank you, it was one of those lucky days :)

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  13. Fabulous!!!! :) When do I visit you for birding :P

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  14. @Nagesh - Thanks! You are welcome anytime :)

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  15. Hi,

    I would like to have a Guest blogpost or Article link for my Company Travel site.. I would like to have my links to be posted on your site.

    Can you please provide me the pricing plan for the same?

    Thanks

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  16. How measurements... And How cm❓

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  17. shaheen falcon definately it is!!

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