Friday, August 15, 2014

The Black Kite Congregation

The torrential downpour for the day had just ended. The Earth smelled of fresh mud. I took a deep breath and looked around.In the sky, a huge amount of Black Kites, Brahminy Kites, House Crows and a single Shikra were swooping through the sky. "Had something died?" I thought. But, when I inspected closer using binoculars, I saw that they were catching some insects flying in the sky.  I decided to find out what these insects were. I went to the adjacent plot and found a ant-hole. From these, the winged ants were coming out in huge numbers.

Each bird had a unique method of catching the insects. Black Kites soared for a second, caught the insect in its mouth, stopped for a second to eat it, and continued searching for insects.The Brahminy Kite caught it in between its legs and moved it to its beak. The crows would stop in midair, turn themselves vertically, catch it in their beak, and continue flying.The Shikra was the most efficient. It would catch it on the wing, effortlessly flying on after eating the insect. It was truly a sight to behold.

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