Paid an impromptu visit to the
Kranji War Memorial on Dec 23 and saw two
Brahminy Kites flying about a tree on the left flank of the plot making a lot of noise. I soon saw the kites swooping down and dive bombing at something in the tree. They kept doing it but I initially thought they were probably dive bombing a tree snake or something which I would not be able to see. Coming around the rear left corner of the memorial building, I saw that one of the kites was taking a break at a nearby bare tree whilst the other continued its chatter flying about the tree. It was then that I saw that there was another bird in the tree and the kites had been dive bombing it. It looked like a large raptor (bigger than the kites) and had a pale-ish head with a black eyeline. One of the kites dived at it so close that it must have come within millimetres of the raptor and the raptor decided to take off after having to duck to avoid the kite's talons. I missed following it as it took off flying low initially and then it disappearing behind a gap in the tree line.
This episode made it clear the the kites were capable of superb aerial gymnastics even in very tight air spaces like that amongst the branches of the tree which the larger raptor had chosen to rest in.
Brahminy Kites are frequently seen eating small prey on the fly carefully holding the prey in their talons and manouvering their feet to within reach of their sharp beaks taking small bites whilst flying about maintaining their altitude. I've not noticed any other bird species in Singapore which does this.
Can anyone tell what kind of raptor it was? My guess is that it could be a juvenile pale-morph Oriental Honey Buzzard or a Changeable Hawk Eagle.
