New Delhi   

Rescued serpent eagles on road to recovery

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI: The Capital has had two very reluctant and unusual visitors this past week. The winged beauties -- crested serpent eagles, protected in India under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 -- were found and rescued by the locals in the Walled City area and deposited with the Jain Bird Hospital in Chandni Chowk. The injured birds are now on the fast road to recovery and will be released in the wild soon, according to sources in the Delhi Wildlife Department.

The crested serpent eagle is a bird of prey and is found in India and Sri Lanka all the way to South China and Indonesia. It is a magnificent forest bird and a specialist hunter that hunts over woodland for snakes and lizards.

This large forest bird builds its nest with sticks and twigs in trees near water and lays a single medium-sized egg.

The plumage is dark brown in the upper parts of the body while the tail and under side of the flight feathers is black with bars. The bird is very rarely spotted in Delhi.

"It all started with worried telephone calls from the public and police to the Wildlife SOS in Delhi informing us about some locals having spotted this huge bird on a main street unable to fly. The rescue unit rescued the bird," said Kartick Satyanarayan of Wildlife SOS, a non-government organisation working for the rescue and rehabilitation of animals and birds.

The first rescued bird required immediate medical attention as it was severely dehydrated and in a state of shock but had no visible injury.

"Working hard, in less than two hours we had the large bird sitting up on its own and by next morning he was up on his perch examining his new surroundings. Two days later, we got another phone call with locals claiming to have found another crested serpent eagle with a wing injury. The bird too is on the road to recovery and is expected to be released soon."

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