When beauty knocked at my door
-Jitender Dhir
How I would feel when some beautiful woman or a special person knocks at my door, is just
what I felt few days back when the same thing happened in my birding world.
In the later morning , when I was at my home (west Delhi) , a distinct sound of black kites which shows a freaking emotion, caught my attention. I was aware that this is a sound of fear or danger to them mostly by some intruder entering their territory.
It raised my brows and I rushed to the spot with my gear and as expected the intruder was a lovely and majestic Crested serpent Eagle. This was the same bird I saw here two weeks back also but then was unable to photograph it. I was lucky this
time. This was the second visit of the bird in the area within fifteen days and that’s something which made me both happy and sad at same time. Happy because it was making regular visits here which is a gift for a birder and sad because movements
of such birds, which are more adapted to wild habitats, in urban settings mostly indicate decrease in their habitat. Crested serpent eagle is a distinct eagle with crested body , beautiful white bands on under parts of wings and tail. That’s why it
looks even more beautiful in flight. It feeds mainly on snakes (which give the name “serpent eagle”), frogs, lizards and small birds.
As kites were harassing it continuously , and it was continuously asking them to let it stay in their territory, I felt pity for it. I am sure if kites would spare it, then it may even nest here, as it was making regular visits and the area
has pretty good variety of big trees and other greenery. Birds which are adapted to urban areas usually see wild birds (specially a raptor) as threat and harass them away. So that’s one of the big reasons why wild birds may not be seen in urban
habitats. Even if they want to nest and share habitat, they are not allowed by urban ones. This is very sad not only to the bird looking for a habitat (specially today when habitat loss is a main concern) but also for a birder like me, who would
otherwise have got a chance to witness this beauty daily.
Even if a wild bird make itself adapted to urban habitats it has to compromise and compete with the urban ones making its survival challenging.
The crested serpent eagle mainly feeds on snakes and reptiles, so it is mainly found in dense forested areas. It is found in regions of thick vegetation of may be low lying hills or plains. It can also be found in other habitat types like open grasslands
,deciduous forests and others where there are large trees. It is absolutely rare to sight it in urban areas though not completely impossible. So I was lucky to have this rare bird sighted and not only once but multiple times with last one recently.
After much tolerance, the eagle ultimately took off and left the area. I can certainly see in its eyes , the words – I shall be back soon. I still await it to come again. Really it was an unexpected experience where “Beauty knocked at my door”.
Jitinder Dhir is a Birdwatcher and wildlife enthusiast from New Delhi. He can be contacted at jitenderdhir@indiatimes.com or at 91 9899848480
Note: At least 36 species of dry-land birds have been spotted in India’s coastal state of Kerala, known for its sultry weather, indicating a change in weather pattern, rapid urbanisation and deterioration in habitat,
says an analysis of eBird data (http://indiaclimatedialogue.net/2016/03/23/dry-land-birds-wing-wet-kerala/). Jitender Dhir's article calls for a similar analysis to be done in North India too.