Quails - I Rain Quail (Coturnix coromandelica) Resident, Not Uncommon Lacks black markings of male Prominent black markings on face Unbarred primaries (seen in flight) Black markings (variable) below Adult male Adult female Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix) Winter migrant, Rare Barred primaries (seen in flight) Lacks black markings of male Rain Adult male Adult female Remarks Rain Quails breed during monsoons and are less likely to be seen in this season. Common Quail is a rare winter visitor. Identification of females requires careful examination. Photos by Siddharth Damle, Sunil Singhal, Jugal Tiwari and Ritvik Singh Quails - II Jungle Bush-Quail (Perdicula asiatica) Resident, Common Rufous and white supercilium Rufous & white Brown ear-coverts supercilium and Strongly marked brown ear-coverts above Rock Bush-Quail (Perdicula argoondah) Resident, Not Uncommon Plain head without Lacks brown ear-coverts markings Little or no streaks and spots above Remarks Jungle is typically more common than Rock in Central India. Photos by Nikhil Devasar, Aseem Kumar Kothiala, Siddharth Damle and Savithri Singh Crested (Oriental) Honey Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) Resident, Common Adult plumages: male (left), female (right) 'Pigeon-headed', weak bill Weak bill Long neck Long, slender Variable streaks and and weak markings below build Adults in flight: dark morph male (left), female (right) Confusable with Less broad, rectangular Crested Hawk-Eagle wings Rectangular wings, Confusable with Crested Serpent not broad Eagle Long neck Juvenile plumages Confusable with juvenile Bonelli's Eagle No black facial markings Note flight profile Confusable with juv. Rufous-bellied Eagle Photos by Vijay Sethi, Rachit Shah, Mapalagama Premasiri, Avisek Banerjee, Rejaul Karim and Arijit Banerjee Vultures - I White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) - juvenile Resident, Common White feathered or bare head (as per age) Streaked underparts; very dark plumage Dark body separates from all but Himalayan Prominent white Griffon patagial band Head not prominently Streaked white underparts Confusable with juv. Himalayan Griffon Indian (Long-billed) Vulture (Gyps indicus) - juvenile Resident, Common Prominent pale streaks on breast Paler brown (vs. Much lighter whitish) central bar below Lighter plumage Confusable with Eurasian Griffon Adult rather unmistakable Remarks White-rumped nests on trees while Long-billed typically nests on cliffs. Both species are smaller and less heavily built than the griffons. Vultures show immense individual and Dark, bare head and neck age variation - much of it is beyond the scope of this guide. Photos by Suman Paul, Tulsi Subedi, Kuldeep Kharade, Prasad Ganpule and Sunil Singhal. Vultures - II Eurasian Griffon (Gyps fulvus) - juvenile Winter migrant, Rare Confusable with Long-billed Vulture White central and patagial band Minimal streaking (cf. Long-billed) Woolly head and neck Lighter body with pale Large size, glides Rufous plumage streaks with wings raised upwards Confusable with Long-billed Vulture Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayanensis) - juvenile Winter migrant, Rare Longer finers (hard to notice) Prominent streaks give ruffled appearance Woolly head and neck Large and bulky Generally more heavily streaked than White-rumped Confusable with White-rumped Vulture Remarks Adults of both these species are told apart from each other by extensively rufous upperparts in Eurasian. They are much larger than Long-billed and White-rumped Vultures; however the size difference is difficult to gauge without direct comparison. Photos by Niraj Mistry, Kaajal Dasgupta and Manjula Mathur Miscellaneous raptors Rufous-bellied Eagle (Lophotriorchis kienerii) - juvenile Resident, Not Uncommon Medium size; Dark around rather short and eyes. Sooty- rounded wings when black above soaring White below without much marking Confusable with juv. Crested Serpent Eagle and Oriental Honey Buzzard Crested Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus) Resident, Common Juvenile Short crest Large size; effortless glides with heavy wing beats Variable spots and streaks Thick and strong Powerful legs bill Jerdon's Baza (Aviceda jerdoni) Resident, Rare Long crest Weaker bill Smallish; (like Honey Buzzard) Rather stout neck rounder wings in flight and tail when soaring Faint or prominent streaks Photos by See Tow Yew Wai, PV & Sarita Subramaniam, Atul Dhamankar, Niranjan Sant, Shantanu Prasad and Amir Sohail Choudhury Spotted Eagles Indian Spotted Eagle (Clanga hastata) Resident, Rare Longer gape Adult Wings less broader Pale brown, than Greater Spotted wings darker Coverts darker than flight feathers Non-baggy trousers (cf. Steppe Smarter profile, not bulky and Tawny) Adult Immature Greater Spotted Eagle (Clanga clanga) Winter migrant, Rare Adult Broader wings Juvenile: Unmistakable plumage Uniformly dark plumage Coverts relatively darker than flight feathers Spots on dark wings Less baggy trousers Adult 7 fingers but dependent on moult and age Remarks: Greater Spotted also occurs in a rare tawny form called the 'fulvescens' morph. Both species are much smaller and less bulkier than Steppe and Tawny Eagle. Spotted Eagles have round nostrils (against oval of Aquila eagles). Photos by Niranjan Sant, Subhadeep Ghosh, Rohan Kamath, Shantilal Varu and Prasad Ganpule. Aquila Eagles Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax) Resident, Rare Adult (pale morph) Oval nostrils (cf. Spotted eagles) Paler than Steppe Shorter gape More protruding neck up to middle of than Steppe eyes Paler greater- coverts Baggy trousers (cf. Spotted eagles) Adult/Sub-adult Adult/Sub-adult Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis) Winter migrant, Rare Sub-adult White greater Longer gape extends coverts to the end of the eye (fade with age) Darker than Tawny Characteristic white greater- coverts Barred flight feathers (not always prominent) Adult Juvenile Remarks The ID features provided here are simplistic. Tawny and Steppe have numerous age-associated plumages. Tawny also occurs in a dark morph in which its colour matches that of an adult Steppe. In comparison to Spotted Eagles note large size, bulkiness and much heavier wing beats (in flight). Photos by Arijit Banerjee, Kaajal Dasgupta, Sunil Singhal, Sudhir Garg and Prasad Ganpule Harriers - females and juveniles Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus) Winter migrant, Not Uncommon Irregularly barred primaries Pronounced white collar (not always) Pronounced rufous collar Strongly barred breast Lighter and unstreaked underparts Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus) Winter migrant, Rare More prominent white Dark trailing eye-patches than in Pallid edge more prominent than in Pallid Lacks white collar Rich rufous, faintly streaked Less strongly- below streaked breast Pied Harrier (Circus melanoleucos) Winter migrant, Rare Confusable with Eastern Marsh Harrier Confusable with juv./female Most unstreaked wings Eurasian Marsh Harrier cf. Pallid and Montagu's Paler face, no eye-patches or conspicuous collar Pale head without eye patch and collar Finely-streaked breast Neatly-streaked below, less strongly than Pallid and Montagu's Remarks Harriers are often seen in eye-level flight while scanning grasslands, in which case also note extent of white on uppertail-coverts. Photos by Vaibhav Deshmukh, Sumit Sengupta, Viral-Pankaj, GS Bhardwaj, Srijan Roy Choudhury and Choy Wai Mun Accipiters - I Shikra (Accipiter badius) Resident, Common Indistinct mesial Indistinct or no stripe mesial stripe Strongly streaked but with thin streaks Adult female Thin streaks; Mesial stripe palest among present all Accipiters Adult male Drop-like blotches, no bars on thighs Juvenile Breast appears Drop-like blotches, faintly blotched Thighs not no bars on thighs barred Mesial stripe present Adult female Juvenile Photos by Siddharth Damle, Geet Maheria Patel, Vijay Sethi, Rajesh Kalra and Chuenchon Hansasuta Accipiters - II Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) Winter migrant, Not Uncommon White supercilum Deeper blue White supercilium than Shikra Rufous cheeks, no mesial stripe Strongly barred but with thin streaks Adult male Adult female White supercilium Flight feathers more prominently streaked than other Accipiters Heavily barred with thin streaks Incospicuous streaks towards abdomen Juvenile Adult in flight Photos by Sudhir Garg, Manjula Mathur, Viral-Pankaj and PV & Sarita Subramaniam Accipiters - III Besra (Accpipiter virgatus) Resident, Rare Mesial stripe Variable rufous patch on breast Thicker bars up to the thighs Dark and pale bands of equal width Adult male Adult female (?) Barred thighs Rufous on breast Same as above Barred thighs Juvenile Adult Crested Goshawk (Accipiter trivirgatus) Resident, Rare Crest mostly Large and robust inconspicuous Well-developed mesial stripe Prominent mesial stripe Strongly-barred thighs Strongly barred thighs; thicker streaks Flares white undertail-coverts during display Photos by Mandar Bhagat, Amarjyoti Saikia, Tulsi Subedi, Michael Dooher and Chuenchom Hansasuta Cuckoos Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) Summer migrant, Common Clear blue-grey above Fine barring Tail generally lacks markings Indian Cuckoo (Cuculus micropterus) Resident, Common Contrast between Relatively greyish head and thicker brown back bands Tail often with dark terminal band Common Hawk-Cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius) Resident, Common Rufous breast patch Hawk-like bands on tail Remarks: All cuckoos are best told apart by their calls. Photos by Jainy Kuriakose, Raghavji Balar, Pranjal Saikia, Michelle & Peter Wong, Viral-Pankaj Nightjars Indian Nightjar Large-tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgus asiaticus) (Caprimulgus