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Wildbuzz | Escape from the eagle’s clutches

ByVikram Jit Singh
Feb 02, 2025 05:46 AM IST

It was quite unusual for international marathoner, Munish Jauhar, to stumble upon an adult owl on the ground at about 8 am next to the jogging track at Sukhna Lake

Such is the aura of India’s majestic raptors and their associations with noble falconers of yore that popular belief would have it that whenever a hunter bird sets its eyes on prey, success is virtually a given. But that does not hold true in the natural world. A hunt is a clash of fighting spirits, a struggle to get food by the raptor and a mirror struggle to escape its clutches. Whenever the targeted prey puts up a stiff resistance, or other complex variables kick into play, the hunter beats a retreat after having expended precious energies.

The stork repulses the eagle’s attack at Sultanpur. (Dev)
The stork repulses the eagle’s attack at Sultanpur. (Dev)

Studies on the Peregrine falcon have shown that the success rate of hunting for this premier species varies from 7.3% to 62%, or higher, depending on differing contexts that include whether the falcon is immature or an adult and the motivation levels to pursue the potential kill. Similarly, a study on the Bonelli’s eagle in Spain showed that hunting success was 28.2% of 110 attacks.

Wildlife photographer, Dev, has captured two great escapes from the Bonelli’s. The first one was at the Dhanauri wetlands, UP, when an eagle managed to catch a Purple swamphen in its talons and flew off. However, the swamphen was not the one to give in to an awaiting fate of being de-plucked and torn to pieces by a hooked beak. The swamphen lashed out wildly with its trailing legs to imbalance the eagle’s flight. The eagle was forced to release the swamphen, which then made off for the safety of the marshes.

The second escape was a recent one. “At the Sultanpur National Park, Haryana, I saw an eagle perched on a tree. A juvenile painted stork had fallen from its nest into the waters. The eagle flew from the tree and generated tremendous thrust through the air. It then stooped at the stork but in the nick of time, the latter lashed upwards with a formidable bill at the eagle just above its head. This hazardous reaction forced the eagle to evade the stork’s bill and divert from the attack plan. It gave the stork time to make for the island, which harboured its nest on a tree,” Dev told this writer.

Owl on Sukhna jogging track

The Indian scops owl is a cute little dumpling, quite confiding in human presence and sometimes found scampering on the ground at night hunting for insects. As daylight seeps in, the owl usually beats a retreat to a tree hollow to avoid mobbing by other birds.

Jauhar lay across the jogging track to photograph the Sukhna owl. (Dr Vipin Gupta)
Jauhar lay across the jogging track to photograph the Sukhna owl. (Dr Vipin Gupta)

It was, therefore, quite unusual for international marathoner, Munish Jauhar, to stumble upon an adult owl on the ground at about 8 am next to the jogging track at Sukhna Lake. The owl was there for at least 40 minutes, with its eyes closed and swaying gently. “I lay down on the track and clicked its photo with my cellphone from real close. The owl did not fly away despite my presence and that of other people so close by and talking loudly,” Jauhar told this writer.

A similar behaviour was observed twice by Dr Amandeep Singh in Hoshiarpur district on cold, misty December nights when the owls sitting on the ground seemed transfixed and allowed him to take them in hand. But both flew away after that.

Wildbuzz | Escape from the eagle’s clutches
Wildbuzz | Escape from the eagle’s clutches

“The owl that Jauhar saw at Sukhna was not wounded. It is likely that the owl was affected by the cold and thus, disoriented. It could have been hunting for insects at night on ground, gotten tired and then decided to sleep / rest on the ground itself. There is a possibility that due to the prevalent cold and use of insecticides, the owl ran short of its prey and was thus hungry, weakened by cold, exhausted and decided to stay put on ground in the morning,” professor Gurpartap Singh, a Mohali-based birder and naturalist, told this writer.

vjswild2@gmail.com

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