Rice Field Raptor

[T_Dog]

Every night and some mornings we see a large hawk hovering in the light winds hunting for mice or rats in the rice field near our place. The bird is probably 80 cm in wingspan and hovers just like a much smaller Kestrel. It has to be a common hawk and am wondering who can give me a clue as to what it is.

Once it spies its prey, it is fun to watch him lower his altitude from 40 meters up in several stages down to about 4 meters before he makes his strike.

[Goshawk]

there's a few birds of prey in Thailand that can hover.. some buzzards, the black shouldered kite & of course the Kestrel. The smaller hawks (accipiters) like shikra & the sparrowhawks do not.

without a pic & by your description (inc' 80cm wingspan) of it descending in hovering stages.. i would say you got it right yourself - a Kestrel.

[T_Dog]

there's a few birds of prey in Thailand that can hover.. some buzzards, the black shouldered kite & of course the Kestrel. The smaller hawks (accipiters) like shikra & the sparrowhawks do not.

without a pic & by your description (inc' 80cm wingspan) of it descending in hovering stages.. i would say you got it right yourself - a Kestrel.

Thanks Goshawk and I was hoping you would reply. My estimate of 80 cm of span might be a bit generous as I have not been very close to them. I always thought Kestrels were always much smaller so I will have to do a bit of looking into that. I used to fly RC airplanes in the US and the small Western Kestrels were always my companions as they fed on grasshoppers in the fields we shared.

Another bird we have here is the night falcon. He has swept back wings that come to a point, and he will sit on our light pole and wait for large moths to come by. When one appears, he will launch off and grab the moth and perch back on the pole. He is not very wary of humans and I can usually sit 15 meters away as he feeds.

[Goshawk]

Another bird we have here is the night falcon. He has swept back wings that come to a point, and he will sit on our light pole and wait for large moths to come by. When one appears, he will launch off and grab the moth and perch back on the pole. He is not very wary of humans and I can usually sit 15 meters away as he feeds.

That is more than likely an Ashy Woodswallow.. They can appear deceptively similar to a small raptor with their falcon style pointed wings, and your description of it feeding on insects like that fits perfect. Shrikes act in a similar way but lack the same wing shape.

[isanbirder]

If your raptor is 'large' and hovering over the ricefields, it is almost certainly a Black-shouldered Kite. I would disregard your estimate of size because guessing size is extremely difficult! The BS Kite is much bigger than the Kestrel.

A simple way to tell the two apart is by colour. The Black-shouldered Kite is grey and black; the Kestrel is brown, with blackish wingtips. Also the BS Kite is by far the commoner, in most areas at least (you don't say where you live).

I agree with Goshawk on your 'night raptor' being an Ashy Wood-Swallow.

[T_Dog]

Yes, on the Ashy Woodswallow. I have actually seen them in pairs sitting quite close to each other but did not realize it was the same bird that visits at night until I took a look at some photos.

Regarding the Kestrel or Black Shouldered Kite, I will try to get a better look as they appear. It should only be a matter of time until one gets up close. Thanks to both of you for the inputs.

[tutsiwarrior]

of course on thaivisa there must be bird watchers humor on 01 April...there's a black bird that sits near our terrace that can speak english and that feeds on small animals and children:...'awk, nevermore...'...I find that he is pretentious and archaic...and the last time that I was at work someone stole my binocs...

Edited April 6, 2012 by tutsiwarrior

[T_Dog]

Today's raptor looked exactly like the ospreys I used to see on the lakes and river of North Idaho, although a bit smaller. First time I have seen this bird, but an osprey would make sense as we live right next to a large canal. I know there are some hawks that have the same light coloring, but I got a close look and it sure looked like an osprey to me.

[tutsiwarrior]

I refuse to believe that there are ospreys in Thailand...I watched once in Oregon as a bird snatched a trout outta a reservoir and it looked like an american bald eagle...only in America and not in a piss ant place in SE Asia...

ospreys in Thailand would provoke local superstition and they would then be wiped out and used locally for virility medicine...they are popular birds in the US NW (one notices a lot when working in the woods in the US NW...) their nests are in the highest trees and I saw one kill a smaller bird once in mid flight...pretty fearsome..a solitary raptor, just watching and waiting...

Edited April 23, 2012 by tutsiwarrior

[Goshawk]

I refuse to believe that there are ospreys in Thailand...

can be found on every continent bar the antarctic.. annual winter visitors to Thailand, not uncommon to see one here.

[Goshawk]

Today's raptor looked exactly like the ospreys I used to see on the lakes and river of North Idaho......

......I know there are some hawks that have the same light coloring, but I got a close look and it sure looked like an osprey to me.

nice one T_Dog... Watching an Osprey fishing is one of nature's finest shows.

look at this thread from a year ago.. http://www.thaivisa..../456867-osprey/

[T_Dog]

Today's raptor looked exactly like the ospreys I used to see on the lakes and river of North Idaho......

......I know there are some hawks that have the same light coloring, but I got a close look and it sure looked like an osprey to me.

nice one T_Dog... Watching an Osprey fishing is one of nature's finest shows.

look at this thread from a year ago.. http://www.thaivisa..../456867-osprey/

Thanks Goshawk. I've watched thousands of ospreys in the past and it was always a pleasure to see them return in the spring. They are quite a noisy bird, especially when nesting, and I hope I hear him screech one of these days when he is in the area. Might make me homesick though!

[T_Dog]

Here is an amazing video....

[isanbirder]

This thread has got a little confused... as threads tend to! Ospreys hover over water (to catch fish). Lovely birds, and not rare in Thailand over lakes and rivers.

Black-shouldered Kites (grey and black) and Kestrels (brown and black) hover over land, notably ricefields.

[T_Dog]

This thread has got a little confused... as threads tend to! Ospreys hover over water (to catch fish). Lovely birds, and not rare in Thailand over lakes and rivers.

Black-shouldered Kites (grey and black) and Kestrels (brown and black) hover over land, notably ricefields.

Confused and drifting, but that's okay! I would argue that the title still applies, as many rivers and canals in Thailand go right through rice fields so not too surprising I saw the osprey. And I have never seen an osprey hover in place like the kestrels, as ospreys tend to glide slowly in circles watching their prey before they dive and attack. Can't say it never happens, but at least I have never witnessed them actually hover. Kestrels actually use a light wind to become stationary over their prey prior to the attack. We just moved to this location a few months back and the amount of bird life has been remarkable.

[Goshawk]

This thread has got a little confused...

really? he's talking about a different bird & one he says he's very familiar with. Would be really hard to confuse an Osprey with anything else.. (we've moved on from the easy kite/kestrel quiz)

I would argue that the title still applies, as many rivers and canals in Thailand go right through rice fields so not too surprising I saw the osprey.

Perfectly correct T_Dog.. no confusion here at all...

(btw, ospreys can hover on oncoming winds as a kestrel does although i've never seen them actually do this myself also)

[villagefarang]

My favorite rice field raptor in our area is the Pied Harrier. I love their amazing low-level aerobatics, often no more than a meter or two above the fields. I prefer the males with the black head, wingtips and epaulets accenting the sleek white body.

[T_Dog]

My favorite rice field raptor in our area is the Pied Harrier. I love their amazing low-level aerobatics, often no more than a meter or two above the fields. I prefer the males with the black head, wingtips and epaulets accenting the sleek white body.

The low altitude hunter definitely belongs on the Rice Field Raptor list! I saw a pair years ago east of Chiang Mai but have not seen any since.

[villagefarang]

My favorite rice field raptor in our area is the Pied Harrier. I love their amazing low-level aerobatics, often no more than a meter or two above the fields. I prefer the males with the black head, wingtips and epaulets accenting the sleek white body.

The low altitude hunter definitely belongs on the Rice Field Raptor list! I saw a pair years ago east of Chiang Mai but have not seen any since.

I am lucky to have these guys, at least part of the year, in the fields around our house. I often catch a glimpse of one as I glance out a window. The females fly the same but aren’t nearly so visually striking. The kites are more numerous and I enjoy their hovering but they can't compete with the Pied Harrier.

[T_Dog]

When I saw the Pied Harriers they were hunting just a few meters up as you say. I was flying RC airplanes and every time I flew, they would climb up quite a bit higher and latch talons in what looked like some kind of mating activity. They only did it when I had an RC airplane aloft and it seems as if the male was thinking there was another suitor around. That was cool to watch, although difficult while trying to keep the plane from re-kitting itself.

[tutsiwarrior]

and where did you observe the activity? I've seen something similar in the field/marsh behind our house in Suphanburi but it looked like the bird was trying to distract a predator (like a monitor lizard) rather than looking for prey...

[Goshawk]

I saw a pair years ago east of Chiang Mai but have not seen any since.

Thats roughly my neck of the woods.. One of the best places i know for Pied Harrier is around the Chiang Dao rice paddies. I'm actually going up around there in a couple of weeks, may stop off for a wander around before i hit the mountains.

[villagefarang]

Pied Harrier seem to like the rice fields of Phaya Mengrai, east of Chiang Rai.

[isanbirder]

The classic locality for Pied Harriers in Thailand is Chiang Saen Lake and the area round it. I get a few down here in Buriram, but the Eastern Marsh Harrier (similar habits) is commoner. Both winter only, indeed mainly in autumn.

I have watched Ospreys hovering, but they look pretty clumsy compared with Kestrel and Black-shouldered Kite. The only one I've seen in this part of Thailand was at Huai Saneng.

Large areas of rice fields are in fact very good for raptors, especially after the rice has been cut. Four species (Brahminy Kite, Rufous-winged Buzzard, Black-shouldered Kite, and Shikra) have bred here this year (the Shikra being more of a woodland bird). In winter, Black Kites are regular, both the harriers, and occasionally Serpent Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle (and unidentifiable Aquila eagles!), Honey Buzzard, Grey-faced Buzzard, and Peregrines.

[T_Dog]

The classic locality for Pied Harriers in Thailand is Chiang Saen Lake and the area round it. I get a few down here in Buriram, but the Eastern Marsh Harrier (similar habits) is commoner. Both winter only, indeed mainly in autumn.

I have watched Ospreys hovering, but they look pretty clumsy compared with Kestrel and Black-shouldered Kite. The only one I've seen in this part of Thailand was at Huai Saneng.

Large areas of rice fields are in fact very good for raptors, especially after the rice has been cut. Four species (Brahminy Kite, Rufous-winged Buzzard, Black-shouldered Kite, and Shikra) have bred here this year (the Shikra being more of a woodland bird). In winter, Black Kites are regular, both the harriers, and occasionally Serpent Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle (and unidentifiable Aquila eagles!), Honey Buzzard, Grey-faced Buzzard, and Peregrines.

That is quite a list... You are fortunate to have that at your doorstep. One direction this thread has not gone is to owls. We have an open studio on our second floor and one night I was standing up there in the dark and a large owl went to land on a tree only 3-4 meters away from me. Just as he was to alight he saw me and flew off. Too dark to see what he was but there are many owls in Thailand's rice fields as well. The small owl which is my avatar flew into our door one night and spent 30 minutes recovering from his headache before flying off.

[isanbirder]

A few days ago I saw a small owl perched on one of those ugly palm trees which are often planted on the bunds of rice paddies. Right up the trunk there are horizontal leaf-stems from which the leaf has dropped. The owl was on one of these. The following day there were four! I managed to get up close to one of them (the others had slipped inside the foliage)... and it had the splendid eyebrows of the Spotted Owlet. Underparts, for all the books say, unmarked dingy white below the collar.

These, the Collared Scops Owl and Asian Barred Owlet, are all fairly easy to see. Large owls are a different story; I can only recollect one, a Barn Owl near Phayao.

Siorry, not quite true. I had two large owls, indeterminate species, from a raft travelling down the Mae Glong River near Umphang.

Edited April 26, 2012 by isanbirder

[T_Dog]

A few days ago I saw a small owl perched on one of those ugly palm trees which are often planted on the bunds of rice paddies. Right up the trunk there are horizontal leaf-stems from which the leaf has dropped. The owl was on one of these. The following day there were four! I managed to get up close to one of them (the others had slipped inside the foliage)... and it had the splendid eyebrows of the Spotted Owlet. Underparts, for all the books say, unmarked dingy white below the collar.

These, the Collared Scops Owl and Asian Barred Owlet, are all fairly easy to see. Large owls are a different story; I can only recollect one, a Barn Owl near Phayao.

Siorry, not quite true. I had two large owls, indeterminate species, from a raft travelling down the Mae Glong River near Umphang.

I will have to keep my eyes open for more owls. Did not realize they were so common. What time of day did you see the four-some?

I miss seeing the small Saw Whet owls of the Pacific Northwest. Saw them many times and they are so curious of humans you can literally walk right up to them.

[isanbirder]

A few days ago I saw a small owl perched on one of those ugly palm trees which are often planted on the bunds of rice paddies. Right up the trunk there are horizontal leaf-stems from which the leaf has dropped. The owl was on one of these. The following day there were four! I managed to get up close to one of them (the others had slipped inside the foliage)... and it had the splendid eyebrows of the Spotted Owlet. Underparts, for all the books say, unmarked dingy white below the collar.

These, the Collared Scops Owl and Asian Barred Owlet, are all fairly easy to see. Large owls are a different story; I can only recollect one, a Barn Owl near Phayao.

Siorry, not quite true. I had two large owls, indeterminate species, from a raft travelling down the Mae Glong River near Umphang.

I will have to keep my eyes open for more owls. Did not realize they were so common. What time of day did you see the four-some?

I miss seeing the small Saw Whet owls of the Pacific Northwest. Saw them many times and they are so curious of humans you can literally walk right up to them.

Early morning. I go out about 6.15 every morning, and come back about 8.30. Spotted Owlets and Asian Barred Owlets are diurnal anyway. For much of this year so far, one early morning treat has been one or two Barred Owlets perched in the vents at the top of the crematorium chimney at our local temple. Th e Spotted shrieks; the Barred has a call 'da-der-da-der' getting faster and more frenetic until it dies off (the call, not the owl).

The Collared is nocturnal, and is usually located by its call, a single plaintive note repeated precisely every 12 seconds (sounds silly, but I've timed it).

[T_Dog]

A few days ago I saw a small owl perched on one of those ugly palm trees which are often planted on the bunds of rice paddies. Right up the trunk there are horizontal leaf-stems from which the leaf has dropped. The owl was on one of these. The following day there were four! I managed to get up close to one of them (the others had slipped inside the foliage)... and it had the splendid eyebrows of the Spotted Owlet. Underparts, for all the books say, unmarked dingy white below the collar.

These, the Collared Scops Owl and Asian Barred Owlet, are all fairly easy to see. Large owls are a different story; I can only recollect one, a Barn Owl near Phayao.

Siorry, not quite true. I had two large owls, indeterminate species, from a raft travelling down the Mae Glong River near Umphang.

I will have to keep my eyes open for more owls. Did not realize they were so common. What time of day did you see the four-some?

I miss seeing the small Saw Whet owls of the Pacific Northwest. Saw them many times and they are so curious of humans you can literally walk right up to them.

Early morning. I go out about 6.15 every morning, and come back about 8.30. Spotted Owlets and Asian Barred Owlets are diurnal anyway. For much of this year so far, one early morning treat has been one or two Barred Owlets perched in the vents at the top of the crematorium chimney at our local temple. Th e Spotted shrieks; the Barred has a call 'da-der-da-der' getting faster and more frenetic until it dies off (the call, not the owl).

The Collared is nocturnal, and is usually located by its call, a single plaintive note repeated precisely every 12 seconds (sounds silly, but I've timed it).

The other night the burgler alarm (Infrared motion sensor) woke me up at 1 AM. I went outside and nothing there. 5 minute later it went off again so I went out and stood against the house wall, convinced there was a dog or person about. As I stood there, a large owl came in and hovered a few feet above the ground under a tree where we have lots of tree frogs. I guess they eat frogs! Quite amazing to watch it 4 meters away hovering and making no noise. It would make sense that they would use any food source available but I never thought of an owl as a frog eater!

The Ashy Woodswallow makes a frequent appearance right after dark as well, but at least it stays away form the motion sensor. It seems larger than the books depict, but its erratic flight pattern seems to fit. Very enjoyable living here, and just a few minutes ago I saw a bird fly by that looked just like a flying platypus. It's tail and beak were perfectly symmetrical. Time to break out the book!

[Gary A]

A Thai guy came to our favorite watering hole with this bird in a cage. He had been trying to sell it and had no luck. He decided to take it home and eat it. My farang friend gave him 150 baht for the bird. He took it to his home and immediately released it. It stayed there and it was hand fed daily. It would fly away and be gone a longer time each week. Finally it returned with a mate. Its mate wouldn't come close to us. We were hoping they would nest in a nearby tree but no such luck. A beautiful bird for sure.