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| Black-winged Kite | ||||||||||||||
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| Elanus caeruleus |
The Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus) is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harrierss.
It is a species primarily of open land and semi-deserts in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical Asia, but it has a foothold in Europe in Spain. It nests in trees.
It takes live prey such as small mammals, birds and insects. The slow hunting flight is like a harrier, but it will hover like a Kestrel.
This bird is unmistakable. It has a white head with a black "mask", and white underparts except for black tips to its narrow falcon-like wings. Upperparts are blue-grey except for black shoulder patches.
The tail is short and square, quite unlike the more familiar Milvus kitess.
This species was formerly referred to as the Black-shouldered Kite, but this name is now used for the Australian species, Elanus axillaris, at one time (along with the American White-tailed Kite E. leucurus) treated as a subspecies of E. caeruleus.
See also Black Kite, Red Kite, Black-shouldered Kite, White-tailed Kite.