Shikra male

On my recent trips to nhava shiva I spotted this beautiful bird it is the shikra male. The word shikra originates from the persian language meaning a person who is blessed with a sharp eyesight. These beautiful eyes reminds me of the late legendary Indian Bollywood actress madhubala. The migrant Euraisian sparrow hawk is very similar to this bird but a closer look reveals the longer legs rufous cheek patch and the absence of mesial stripes. Usually solitary hides in leafy branches, pounces on unsuspecting prey occasionally chases small birds, lizards, large insects, It has a loud titu titu call and also shrieks iheeya iheeya. It is a small bird of prey with uniform pale grey head and upper parts and whit under parts with orange brown spots on the breast. The larger female has brown was upper parts and yellow eyes instead of red.