The Shikra (Accipiter badius)

The shikra (Accipiter badius) is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found widely distributed in Asia and Africa where it is also called the little banded goshawk. The African forms may represent a separate species but have usually been considered as subspecies of the shikra. The shikra is very similar in appearance to other sparrowhawk species including the Chinese goshawk and Eurasian sparrowhawk. They have a sharp two note call and have the typical flap and glide flight. Their calls are imitated by drongos and the common hawk-cuckoo resembles it in plumage.

The shikra is a small raptor (26–30 cm long) and like most other Accipiter hawks, this species has short rounded wings and a narrow and somewhat long tail. Adults are whitish on the underside with fine rufous bars while the upperparts are grey. The lower belly is less barred and the thighs are whitish. Males have a red iris while the females have a less red (yellowish orange) iris and brownish upperparts apart from heavier barring on the underparts. The females are slightly larger. The mesial stripe on the throat is dark but narrow. In flight the male seen from below shows a light wing lining (underwing coverts) and has blackish wing tips. When seen from above the tail bands are faintly marked on the lateral tail feathers and not as strongly marked as in the Eurasian sparrowhawk. The central tail feathers are unbanded and only have a dark terminal band.Juveniles have dark streaks and spots on the upper breast and the wing is narrowly barred while the tail has dark but narrow bands. A post juvenile transitional plumage is found with very strong barring on the contour feathers of the underside.The call is pee-wee, the first note being higher and the second being longer. In flight the calls are shorter and sharper kik-ki ... kik-ki. The Chinese sparrowhawk is somewhat similar in appearance but has swollen bright orange ceres and yellow legs with the wing tips entirely black.

Shikras frequent open jungles, and even urban gardens and avenues. It avoids dense jungles and deserts but is found in every other type of habitat, preferring areas with plenty of large trees. To hunt, it either takes a low, stealthy flight along the treeline, pouncing on an unwary bird or animal. Sometimes, it soars high in circles and dives down at the sight of prey.

Its diet consists of lizards, frogs, grasshoppers and small birds and fledglings, but it is sometimes brazen enough to go for bigger birds like the Greater Coucal, Spotted Owlet and even bats.

The Shikra most often can be observed flying from one tree to another, with rapidly flapping wings, followed by short glides, and disappearing into the foliage.

It is rather a noisy hawk, and the shrill call of notes titu-titu is a familiar sound prior to and during establishment of pair bonds and when breeding. Their nesting season lasts from April to June, which is quite an interesting time to observe their behaviour from a distance.

Their nest looks like a loosely built cup of twigs and sticks, untidy, much like that of crows. They aren’t exactly homely birds. However, they do take precautions by building their nests usually in trees, well screened by leaves in order to reduce any kind of outside disturbance. In cities, they can be aggressive, defending their nest from crows and other creatures (even humans). Both males and females incubate the eggs (they believe in equality) but males are the primary food-bearers.