Appearance:

Male with brown back, pinkish white underparts and a bluish grey head with a black eye mask. Female more dull with barred underparts. Juvenile like female, but upperparts also barred . Tail brown with white edges in all plumages. Females and juveniles easily confused with other southern/eastern or vagrant shrikes like; Brown Shrike, Isabelline Shrike, Woodchat Shrike and Turkestan Shrike. Differs from those in white sides of tail, barred rump, mantle and scapulars, scaly underparts and dark or yellowish base of bill (not pink).

Sound:

Call a hard "check check" (like striking two rocks together), and a variable nasal "twee" Song surprisingly varied with many expert imitations of small passerines, interwoven with bell-like ringing and dry chirping sounds. May be confusing and hard to identify if bird not seen. Song not very loud, but phrases can be very long.

Alarm call, song:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Appearance:

Medium sized eagle with long, evenly broad wings and relatively short tail. Easily confused with Lesser Spotted Eagle, Clanga pomarina. Flight feathers usually paler than the dark coverts, and head and body same colour as wings. Only diffuse pale patch at base of primaries on upper wing (marked in C. pomarina). Pale base of primaries shows as "comma", but usually lacks pale base of under primary coverts, contrary to C. pomarina. Broader wings than C. pomarina, and the squarish wing-shape, short neck and tail recalls White-tailed Eagle (H. albicilla). U-shaped white patch at base of tail. Immature birds even darker than adults, and show white spots along upper wing coverts in two narrow bands. Very long "fingers" overall, and elongated 7th primary. Soars and glides on horizontal wings with drooping hand (as C. pomarina). Bill obviously heavier than C. pomarina, and yellow base and gular region stands out. Round nostrils.

Sound:

Vocal at breeding ground, and when courting. Short, barking, high-pitched whistles, not unlike a small dog. Slightly lower pitched than C. pomarina and with a fuller tone, but very similar.

Call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:David Farrow, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Ronald Bontrop, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Paul Schrijvershof, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:CharlesLam, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Ronald Bontrop, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Bart Moons, Licence,Link.