![]() In Malaysia, Brahminy kites are found throughout coastal areas in the Peninsula and across into Borneo and beyond into Sulawesi. The latter species of kite are seen soaring over the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, UK. This distinct call is not dissimilar from that of its European cousin the Red kite’s call of ‘peelew’. Holastur indus intermedius is known as the red-backed sea-eagle in Australia because of its chestnut brown plumage, white head and breast, black wingtips, rounded tail and its long whistling call of ‘keeyew’ makes it an easily recognised bird of prey. On the sheer rock face of a long disused quarry, only 400 metres from my home in Somerset, UK, I have had the pleasure of seeing a pair of peregrine falcons annually nest and breed for the last 10 years or so. Relatively recently, when visiting an international school near Batu Pahat, Johor, I witnessed a Brahminy kite emerging from a nearby mangrove reserve to scoop up unwanted fish thrown overboard from a fishing boat, and the next month, whilst attending a nephew’s wedding in London, suddenly, in a nearby park, a peregrine falcon zoomed down and killed a feral pigeon only five metres away from me. On minute these birds may be seen circling overhead and next minute plunging down in kamikaze-pilot fashion to hit theirprey with force. But I stopped the practice after people advised me against it,” she (function() ) IN 1823, the word raptor was given to an order of birds, Raptores, which includes buzzards, eagles, hawks, kites and owls, which all seize their prey and transport them away. My cousin sister calls the bird Krishna and it responds to her calls. It sits on the hands of people who offer food. Omana, who works as a cleaning staff at the office of a lawyer in Kochi, could not go to work for the past one week. This looks strange,” said wildlife scientist Dr P O Nameer. The Brahminy kites normally breed in the coastal region. ![]() Maybe, the family has unknowingly harmed its chicks or gone near the nest. ![]() But the bird is known to be protective of its nest, eggs and chicks. “I have not heard about Brahminy kites attacking humans. Though the place is located some 30 km away, I am sure it will return,” said Omana. The forest staff said they will release it at Kodanad. We stepped out of the house only after the bird was caught. After that, the mother and daughter did not step outside the house. “We were starving for the past couple of days as all our resources got over. She fell into a paddy field and was badly hurt. On December 26, Omana set out for work wearing an umbrella. But the bird was back at our house by evening,” she said. “Frustrated by the attack, I complained to ward member K V Pramod, who caught the bird with help of his friends and released it somewhere around 10km away. Omana said they were not able to go to the washroom located outside the house. But I stopped the practice after people advised me against it,” she said. We have bruises all over our head and shoulders,” said Omana, of Chulliparambil House. The moment we open the door it will rush to us and attacks us. It used to sit on the branch of a tree in our courtyard and monitor our movements closely. It didn’t allow me and my daughter to step outside the house during the past two weeks. But it started behaving strangely around a month back. “The bird was sighted in our locality six months ago. Finally, the family heaved a sigh of relief after the forest personnel caught the bird and shifted it to the Kodanad forest station on Thursday. It was a Brahminy kite - popularly known as Krishna Parunthu in Kerala - that targeted the woman and her daughter, Sona, for the past two weeks. Omana, a native of Nayarambalam near Kochi, has a similar story to narrate. KOCHI: ‘The Birds’, a 1963 movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock, narrates the story of a community that was terrorised by flocks of birds.
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