Birds of Prey are also known as raptors who hunt and feed on other animals and detect prey during flight and powerful talons. Big raptors or birds of prey of the Indian Subcontinent includes Osprey,Indian Spotted Eagle,Tawny eagle,Indian eagle-owl,Himalayan vulture and fish eagle.
These flying predators also includes small and medium-sized raptors such as Shikra, Honey Buzzard, Indian Shaheen, Marsh Harrier and Black-Shouldered Kite.
The Shikra is a small-medium sized bird of prey also called the little banded goshawk and the most favorite bird among falconers in India. Shikra is found in a large range of habitats including dense forests, open farmland and urban areas.
The crested goshawk is a diurnal raptor breeds in southern Asia and in the Himalayas foothills of India. Crested goshawk is secretive forest bird, hunts mammals,small birds and reptiles.
Besra bird of prey is a widespread resident of dense forests in the Indian subcontinent. This medium-sized raptor is like a darker version of the widespread shikra and hunting technique is similar to small hawks.
Peregrine falcon is a crow-sized falcon and widespread bird of prey raptor, found mainly in the Indian subcontinent. Indian peregrine falcon is a powerful-looking falcon about the size of a house crow, found in all states of India.
Brahminy kite is a beautiful colored medium-sized bird of prey found in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia. The reddish-brown body plumage Brahminy kite is considered the sacred bird of Lord Vishnu – Garuda.
The marsh harrier bird of prey is a medium-sized raptors and the largest and broadest-winged harriers, hunts small mammals, frogs, fish, insects and birds. Western marsh harrier has been spotted in Bangalore and Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.
There are tree different species of harrier found in India, these medium sized bird of prey are true raptors of India forest and lakes.
The common kestrel is a bird of prey species also known as the European kestrel,occurs over a large range of Rajasthan to Andhra Pradesh. Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary and Tal Chhapar Sanctuary of Rajasthan in the Shekhawati region of India are best place to spot Kestrel bird of prey in India.
The crested honey buzzard species is also known as the Oriental honey buzzard is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. This medium-to-large bird of prey breeds in woodlands and eats mainly small mammals.
Black-shouldered kite is a medium-sized raptor found in open habitat and grasslands along roadsides. This species of raptor is best known for unique habit of hovering over open grasslands in search of prey, can be confused with the Australian black-shouldered kite (Elanus axillaris).
The long-winged raptor is some time combined with the Black-winged kite and best known for hovering over open grasslands.
The black kite and its subspecies are known as black-eared kite, small Indian kite also known as pariah kite, found throughout the subcontinent.
The black pariah kites are most common bird of prey in India, especially found in areas of high human population and cities,Indian pariah kites are resident while black-eared kite are migratory.