Indian Eagle Id

[Mike Barth]

Tommy, I hope it's ok if I post a few ID shots here from my India trip ? :p
I need some help and it's the obvious place to come !

Is this Dark Phase Short-Toed Snake Eagle ? Mountains near Bayana , Rajasthan.

[MarkS]

Looks good for a Short-toed to me, Mike. Taken from an Indian coffee shop? ;-)

[Mike Barth]

Cheers Mark. Unfortunately not. Had to climb half a mountain to get that shot !

[Clive]

Short toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) for me but I don't think they have distinct colour phases.

[Mike Barth]

Just going off what it said in the book Clive - it talks about Pale and Dark Phase

[Clive]

OK, didn't know that.

[MarkS]

Robson refers to "dark" and "pale" birds in Birds of SE Asia - presumably usual variation in larger raptors applies to SE Eagle, too

[Neil Tovey]

Yup - I've seen both pale and dark phases in Europe.
From what I recall (which isn't much usually) I've only seen pale phase in the UAE and India (mind you Minty - I recall even less than usual from our Goa trip) :)