Shikra

The shikra is a small bird of prey found widely in Asia and Africa, where it is also called the little banded goshawk. It has a sharp two-note call and the flap-and-glide flight typical of small hawks of its group. Drongos imitate its call, and the common hawk-cuckoo resembles it in plumage. It was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter and was moved to Tachyspiza in a 2024 reclassification (Wikipedia, general species account).

It was formally described in 1788-89 from a brown hawk from Ceylon that Peter Brown had described and illustrated in 1776. Nationally Least Concern (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012, listed as Accipiter badius).