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Black Kite

Black Kite

Milvus migrans

Identify the Black Kite by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Black Kite is a medium-sized, dark brown raptor with a shallowly forked tail, thought to be the world's most numerous bird of prey. It ranges across temperate and tropical Eurasia, Africa and Australasia; temperate populations migrate to warmer areas in winter. An adaptable opportunist, it often scavenges around water, towns and rubbish tips and spends long periods gliding on rising air.

Did you know?

  • It is thought to be the world's most abundant bird of prey.
  • It is known to pick up smouldering sticks, possibly spreading fires to flush prey.

Voice

Song
Call

About the species

Identification

A medium-sized, dark brown raptor with fairly long wings, pale panels at the base of the primaries and a shallowly forked tail, which can look square when fanned; the head is paler and streaked. It glides flexibly and banks often. Compared with Red Kite it is smaller and darker, with a much less deeply forked tail and without rufous tones.

Family

Accipitridae

Size

Large (crow)

Colours

brown, black, grey, white, yellow

About the habitat

Open and semi-open landscapes near water – rivers, lakes, coasts and wetlands – as well as farmland, open woodland and towns.

Diet

Opportunistic: carrion and dead fish, small mammals, birds, frogs and large insects; it readily scavenges and steals food, even snatching it in mid-air.

Behaviour

Soars and glides with easy, elastic wingbeats, constantly twisting and fanning its tail. It is often seen in loose groups and gathers at food sources, fires and rubbish tips. Its call is a shrill, whinnying whistle. In South Asia it is a familiar sight over towns and cities.

Sources

Photo: Mildeep, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black Kite (Milvus migrans)- Juvenile.jpg

Sound: Jairam Vijayan, XC881012, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/881012

Sound: Joost van Bruggen, XC431988, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/431988

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_kite

See also