One of world’s largest raptors sighted in Delhi after 3 decades
One of world’s largest raptors sighted in Delhi after 3 decades
NEW DELHI: A cinerous vulture, a native of Central Asia and Europe, was seen in Delhi’s skies after at least three decades.
Retired scientist Surya Prakash, a keen birder, spotted the vulture hovering over Neeli Jheel in the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary on December 9. According to his records, this was the first sighting in Delhi-NCR in the last three decades. However, the last record of the bird’s appearance was documented by wildlife biologists in 1969. This would make the cinerous vulture’s sighting even rarer, given the gap of 54 years.
Prakash photographed it and later confirmed the species. The bird was soaring with an Egyptian vulture tailing it. Two black kites were harassing it and so it had lost altitude when Prakash clicked it.
The near threatened species is among the largest and heaviest raptors in the world and largest among the old-world vultures with a wingspan of three metres. Native to Europe and Central Asia, it has dark brown plumage, big eyes and white patches near the beak. It appears dark during flight, which is why it is called the black vulture.
“It was around 10am, not the usual time for birding, but good for raptors. These are heavy birds and thermal current at this hour of day helps them gain altitude with less energy. We saw some raptors soaring. I saw some black kites chasing one big raptor. Some Egyptian vultures were tailing to it. It came down a little, so I took some photos,” Surya said.
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