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Black-winged Kite

Black-winged Kite

Elanus caeruleus

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

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The Black-winged Kite is a small, day-flying raptor with long, pointed wings and crisp white, grey and black plumage. It is famous for hovering over open country while hunting, and its forward-facing red eyes give it an owl-like look. Found across much of sub-Saharan Africa and tropical Asia, with a growing foothold in south-western Europe, it favours grasslands, semi-deserts and farmland. Rather than migrating, it wanders with weather and prey, tracking rodent booms.

Did you know?

  • It can hover in place like a kestrel, scanning the ground for prey.
  • When rodents are abundant it can raise several broods a year – unusual for a bird of prey.

Voice

Song
Call

About the species

Identification

A small, compact raptor, pale grey above and white below, with a large black patch on the shoulders and black primaries from below. The head is large and owl-like with red eyes and a dark mask in front of the eye; the tail is short and square. Hovers like a kestrel, and glides with wings raised in a V.

Family

Accipitridae

Size

Large (crow)

Colours

grey, white, black, red

About the habitat

Open grasslands, savannas and semi-deserts, as well as farmland and pastures with scattered trees. Mostly on plains, but also on grassy hillsides and at higher elevations in parts of Asia.

Diet

Mainly small rodents, and it quickly exploits rodent population peaks; also other small prey such as large insects, lizards and small birds.

Behaviour

A diurnal hunter that alternates between hovering and hunting from perches such as wires and posts. When perched it often readjusts its wings and flicks its tail. It is not migratory but moves nomadically with weather and food supply.

Sources

Photo: Tisha Mukherjee, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black-winged Kite in Tal Chhapar Sanctuary November 2025 by Tisha Mukherjee 03.jpg

Sound: Sharadapte, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black-shouldered_kite_song_recorded_in_October_2015_at_Allamprabhu,_Kolhapur.wav

Sound: JACOB Hervé, XC682343, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/682343

Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-winged_kite

See also