Shikra | Accipiter Badius Badius | Kurulugoya

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Accipiter
Species: A. badius

Binomial name
Accipiter badius

Common breeding resident throughout the island. It avoids dense forests and can be found in open areas, plantations, village gardens and even in towns with some trees. Shikra preys mainly on small birds and lizards. It usually perches high in a tree watching for a prey and flies down to catch it with talons. It breeds from March to May and probably again in August to September and build a nest with twigs and grasses place among foliage high in a big tree.

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.