Shikra

Shikra the name comes from India, the original name is, Shikari or Shikara. Shikari or Shikara means, a hunter. Other names are chipak or chipka. Like Falcons and Cormorants, Shikra would be trained for hunting other birds. Not a common practice anymore.

Shikra is culturally rooted in India. From poems to defence, it has its presence. The INS Shikra, helicopter base of Indian Navy located at Colaba, Mumbai was named after majestic Shikra.

A Punjabi poem, 'Main Ik Shikra Yaar Banaya' written by the poet, Shiv Kumar Batalvi about lament of lost love, where the poet compares his lost love lady to a Shikra.

Shikra has short rounded wings with a narrow long tail. The adult Shikra has a whitish undertail coverts with rufous bars and grey uppertail coverts.

The lower belly of the Shikra has lesser bars and the thighs of the Shikra are whitish. The iris of the male Shikra is red and the female Shikra's iris is yellowish orange, the female Shikra has brownish uppertail coverts and has bars on the undertail coverts.

The female Shikra is larger than the male Shikra. The mesial stripe of the throat is small and dark. The male Shikra in flight from below has light underwing coverts with blackish wing tips.

The male Shikra in flight from above has tail bands with faint marks on the lateral tail feathers.

The male Shikra's central tail feathers have a dark terminal band. The juvenile Shikra has dark streaks and spots on the upper breast while the wings are have small bars, the tail of the juvenile Shikra has small dark bands. The post juvenile Shikra plumage has dense barring on the contour feathers of the underside.

Lineage
They belong to the Kingdom Animalia, the Phylum is Chordata, the Class is Aves, the Order is Accipitriformes, the Family is Accipitridae, the Genus is Accipiter, the Binomial name is Accipiter badius.

Subspecies
The subspecie Accipiter badius dussumieri found in India is resident to the plains and lower hills reaching 1400 metres in the Himalayas.

Measurements
The Shikra measures 26 to 30 centimetres in length, the Shikra weighs 124 grams.

Sounds
The Shikra's calls are pee-wee, the first note is higher while the second one is longer. The Shikra makes a short and sharp kik-ki kik-ki in flight.

Behaviour
The Shikra lives alone as well as in pairs. The Shikra flies normally with flaps and glides. The adult pairs of the Shikra in the breeding season will glide over thermals and stoop at each other. The Shikra in flight, alarms small birds and squirrels.

Diet
The Shikra eats rodents like Meriones hurrianae, squirrels, small birds, lizards, snakes and insects. Many small birds dive through foliage to avoid the Shikra, the Kingfishers dive in water to avoid the Shikra.

The babblers group up to drive away the Shikra. The Shikra will come to the ground to eat winged termites, the Shikra hunts during the dusk for small bats like the Cynopterus sphinx, the Shikra can feed on carrion. The calls of the Shikra are mimicked by drongos.

Habitat
The Shikra lives in forests, farmland and urban areas.

Breeding & Nesting
The Shikra breeds from March to June in India. The Shikra's nest is a platform lined with grass. Both adult male Shikra and the adult female Shikra build the nest, they use twigs and metal wires.

The adult female Shikra lays 3 to 4 eggs and will lay more as a replacement, the eggs of the adult female Shikra are pale bluish grey stippled on the broad end in black. The eggs are incubated by the female Shikra for 18 to 21 days.

Threats, Predators & Conservation Status
Shikra is not threatened at present. Their numbers are anything but low, the population size could be around 5,00,000 to 9,99,999.