White eye buzzard

The first bird of prey I ever saw in my life from such a close view was the white eye buzzard. The eyes of this bird of prey are crystal clear. This slim hawk has a small head and a weak bill, long square ended narrow tail and long legs and toes. The adult has a dark grey brown head with mostly dark shafted upper parts and neck. It has a white throat with a dark gular and moustachial stripe and a pale nape patch. The wings have a pale mottled panel with dark primaries. Both sexes are similar but the female is slightly bigger. The juvenile has a pale head dark irish and under parts that are streaked brown. Its flight is quite like fast wing beats and a short glide with wings held flat while soaring. This is a unique bird with the white eyes of man. It is mainly found in the Indian Himalayas till 1000m altitude, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The size is smaller than the size of the kite or like a medium sized hawk. The male female identification is difficult. The young ones can be identified by a white head and darker body. The adults are brown in color with a white throat. There are whitish nuchal patch and buffish wing shoulders with brown and white underparts. The unique thing about this bird is that it has a yellow and white spot above the beak. The beak is black in color with a curve that makes it look beautiful. The added attraction is the bright white spot on the throat. It is distinctly identifiable from the true buzzards in the genus buteo found in South Asia. They sit upright on perches for long periods. The adults have a rufous tail. In flight, the narrow wings rounded with black tips to the feathers and wing lining appears dark and majestic, much like a shikra.