The Royal Falcon

The photo just before it launched itself after landing.

Falco peregrinus peregrinator. On 13th April, 2019 a surprise waited for me in Nagar Van, Chandigarh. A falcon flew besides me while I was photographing a Wood Sandpiper. I assumed the falcon to be a Peregrine Falcon which is a yearly winter visiter to Nagar Van. It went and sat on the transformer tower which is its favourite location and assuming it to be a Peregrine Falcon I ignored it, as I had seen it before. After some time we saw it flying once again and assumed that today the falcon was hungry and it wanted to hunt. So, to witness this act we went close to the tower and saw it sitting on the absolute top of it which was about a 70m above the ground. We waited for about five minutes and to our surprise the falcon dived towards the forest canopy in such great speed that I couldn't even take its photo. I was disappointed to see it disappear into the canopy without getting a dive photo but once again to our surprise it flew in from behind our backs towards the tower in high speed and this time I was ready. I focused my camera on the flying falcon and kept pressing the click button.While I was continuously clicking the photos the raptor was about to sit on the tower but immediately as it landed, it took off the next second as it saw Black Drongo sitting on top of the tower but then again, instead of going after the drongo it came back and sat on the tower. All this happened just only within a matter of 20 seconds and this time I managed to capture all this in my camera but, when I reached home and looked at the photographs I was extremely astonished. I looked at the falcon closely. The raptor which I assumed to be a Peregrine Falcon was actually a Shaheen Falcon, which is a South Eastern sub-species of the Peregrine Falcon. To confirm my hypothesis I sent the photo to a senior and experienced birder who told me that it was indeed a Shaheen Falcon and also gave me certain points and facts about it. I had seen the Peregrine Falcon a lot of times before, but his was the first time I saw a Shaheen Falcon. 

The taxon was formally described by Carl Jacob Sunderval in 1837 as a separate species, Falco peregrinator, based on a juvenile specimen caught on a ship between Sri Lanka and the Nicobar Islands. Its taxonomic status as a subspecies of Falco peregrinus has been controversial for several years. The Shaheen Falcon is mainly found in India and is a small and powerful looking flacon with dark upper parts and a gorgeous rufous belly. This appearance has made it a favourite amongst falconers and it is one of the most traded raptor due to which it requires for more conservation. People infiltrate its nest for collecting its eggs and selling them for trade due to its reputation amongst raptors which has now resulted in different nesting behaviour of this bird, building its nest away form human vicinity. A lot of information on this raptor in generally lacking and much more research is required including taxonomic studies and its population status in India and China. This raptor is usually solitary and mates for life. Its breeding season varies in the Himalayan Foothills between March and May and sometimes upto June. The Shaheen Falcon is a deadly hunter and preys upon mostly birds such as partridges, doves, quails, swifts, parakeets and it has even been recorded while hunting ducks. The falcon sits on high perch selecting a perfect prey and scanning the hunting area after which it dives upon the selected prey with a speed normally upto 320km/h inserting its talons inside the other bird and killing it upon impact due to its high speed. This raptor is the fastest flying bird and its dive speed has been recorded to reach 389km/h. The name of this flacon is derived from Persian which literally means "Like a King", "Worthy of a King", "Majestic"or "Kingly" making this bird a favourite amongst royals.

The aerial high speed shot while it came behind our backs.

Population Distribution of the Shaheen Falcon