Nest
I saw the Black-shouldered Kite flying across the paddyfield holding a lizard with its talons and I knew there was a story here. When a bird catches a prey, it consumes it as soon as possible before other birds snatch it. However, this one was flying straight and fast with the kill, leading me to suspect it was taking it to a nest. I followed it with my eyes before losing it.
Heading towards the area where I had lost it, I found a small bamboo grove. I waited and scanned the skies and soon saw not one but two of these Kites, perched atop bamboos. Then my driver saw flapping of wings from within a dense patch of bamboo leaves, high up. I looked with binoculars to find a nest built on a branch node of the bamboo. I could see two chicks inside.
Since Black-shouldered Kites are not shy this was an opportunity to observe the children and adults of a bird of prey at the nest.
The adults were preoccupied with procuring food and keeping the chicks safe from harm. Every day the father flew out several times. It went hunting over the fields, using its wings to hover above fields, and then diving down once it spotted a prey. It usually returned with a skink, mouse, or lizard. The mother hung around in the neighbourhood of the nest, perching on one of several tall trees. If any other large bird – Black Kite, Brahminy Kite, Crow – came near the nest she ferociously drove it away.
The nest was built about twenty-five feet high, a cup-shaped jumble of twigs and branches straddling several bamboo branches growing from a node. Dense leaves hindered my view and hid the nest well, not just from my eyes but also from predators in the sky. At first only two chicks were visible, but as I watched more, movements behind these chicks told me there was a third chick.
When the father returned with food, it flew fast and straight to the nest, making a loud whistling sound to alert the chicks as it closed in. It immediately dropped the kill on the nest. The largest chick usually started eating first by holding it down with its talons and tearing off pieces with its sharp beak. The other chicks squawked loudly for their share; the third chick, the smallest, was getting the least food. Sometimes a parent joined in the meal, although its role seemed to be to ensure equitable distribution. They ate the soft innards first and one of them ended up swallowing the remains of the carcass.
Ten days after I first saw them, the largest chick climbed out of the nest and perched on a branch. It flapped its wings for fifteen minutes and preened them. A few days later, the second chick joined it. Then the third chick also came out. Soon, they flew short distances between tips of bamboos close by.
I imagine the nest will be full until the chicks (now juvenile Kites) have learned to hunt. Then they will take off into the world leaving me with photographs and memories.
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