Profiling Bulbul, Dove and Shikra with SX60

Its monsoon time in my place and raining all time over last four days. The sun just came out for couple of hours over the weekend and that was enough to get out with SX60 and produce below pictures. The weather was cloudy but I tried my best to shoot at lower ISO. I also tried to stay within optical zoom range except for the close-up shots on Shikra. All shot JPEG with some PP.

Red-Whiskered Bulbul:

The red-whiskered bulbul is about 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in length. It has brown upper-parts and whitish underparts with buff flanks and a dark spur running onto the breast at shoulder level.

It has a tall pointed black crest, red face patch and thin black moustachial line.

The tail is long and brown with white terminal feather tips, but the vent area is red.

Red-Vented Bulbul:

The red-vented bulbul is easily identified by its short crest giving the head a squarish appearance. The body is dark brown with a scaly pattern while the head is darker or black.

The rump is white while the vent is red. The black tail is tipped in white.

Rock Dove:

The rock dove has a dark bluish-gray head, neck, and chest.

They have glossy greenish iridescence along its neck and wing feathers.

Spotted Dove:

The spotted dove has a white-spotted black collar patch on the back and sides of the neck.

The Shikra (Accipiter badius) - Little but powerful raptor:

The shikra a widespread resident breeder throughout south Asia, especially India, and sub-Saharan Africa. An aggressive hunter, the shikra mainly hunts from a perch, making a short dash through the branches to snatch prey from tree trunks, foliage or the ground.

Males have a red iris while the females have a less red (yellowish orange) iris.

Their vision is eight times more acute than the vision of humans.

They have a sharp, hooked beak, which they use to kill prey and tear it into pieces to eat.

It swoops down on the prey and kills even poisonous snakes with the hit from the sharp beak. They are diurnal, hunting only during the day.

Shikra have strong legs with sharp talons. Adults are whitish on the underside with fine rufous bars while the upperparts are grey. The lower belly is less barred and the thighs are whitish.

Their wings are short and rounded; They have a long barred tail that helps them with balance during hunting.

Indian palm squirrel

Well, this is not a bird but I can not ignore their larger beautiful eyes

Sorry, it's a longer post and thanks for viewing.

Your comments and feedback are welcome.

Bala