Black-shouldered Kite
A species of Black-shouldered Kites, Also known as Australian Kite Scientific name : Elanus axillaris Genus : Black-shouldered Kites
Black-shouldered Kite, A species of Black-shouldered Kites
Also known as:
Australian Kite
Botanical name: Elanus axillaris
Genus: Black-shouldered Kites
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Description People often ask General Info
Description
The adult black-shouldered kite is around 35 cm (14 in) in length, with a wingspan of between 80 and 100 cm (31 and 39 in). The female is slightly heavier, weighing on average around 300 g (11 oz) compared to the male's average weight of 260 g (9.2 oz). The sexes have similar plumage. The crown, neck and upperparts are pale grey, while the head and underparts are white. A black comma-shaped marking lies in front of and stretches over and behind the eye, which is deep red and surrounded by a black orbital ring. The leading edge of the outer wing is black. When perched, this gives the species its prominent black "shoulders". The central rectrices of the tail are pale grey, while the rest of the tail feathers are white. The bill is short with a sharp, hooked tip to the upper mandible. Its nostrils and the cere are bright or dull yellow and the bill is black. The legs and feet are also yellow or golden-yellow, and the feet have three toes facing forwards and one toe facing backwards. The juvenile has a white forehead and chin and rusty brown neck, nape and breast with darker streaks. The back and wings are mottled buff or brown. There is a less distinctive dark shoulder patch, but a larger comma-shaped patch over the eyes. The eyes themselves are dark brown. The bill is black with a horn-coloured cere. Black-shouldered kites spiral into the wind like a kestrel. They soar with v-shaped up-curved wings, the primaries slightly spread and the tail widely fanned, giving the tail a squarer appearance and visible 'fingers' on the wings. In level flight progress is rather indirect. Their flight pattern has been described as 'winnowing' with soft steady beats interspersed with long glides on angled wings. They can most often be seen hovering with wings curved and tail pointing down. The black-shouldered kite is very similar to the related letter-winged kite (E. scriptus), but has the black mark above and behind the eye, a white rather than grey crown, and shows all-white underparts in flight except for the black markings on the shoulder, dark wingtips, and a small black patch on the underwing. It is slightly larger than the nankeen kestrel (Falco cenchroides). The latter species lacks wing markings and has pale brown plumage. It keeps its wings level when soaring, and has a faster wingbeat when hovering. The grey falcon (Falco hypoleucos) has somewhat similar coloration to the black-shouldered kite but is bulkier and heavier overall and lacks the black markings. Its wings are barred and it preys on birds. The grey goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae) has wider more rounded wings, underwing markings and glides with lowered wings. 
Size
37 cm
Feeding Habits
Black-shouldered Kite predominantly feeds on mice, comprising over 90% of its diet. Additionally, black-shouldered Kite consumes insects, small reptiles, birds, and occasionally rabbits. Black-shouldered Kite hunts by flying or hovering over grasslands at dawn and dusk, dropping silently onto prey with a high success rate. Unique adaptations include clinging to branches with inward-turned talons and maintaining perpendicular hovering.
Habitat
The black-shouldered Kite favors open habitats with grassland and sparse woodlands, typically with ground cover heights between 30 to 150 cm. These regions include savannas, coastal dunes, agricultural farmlands, and grassy urban expanses bordering towns. They adapt to areas with scatterings of trees or shrubbery that facilitate their hunting strategies. Avoiding dense forests and very arid or rocky terrains, black-shouldered Kite is prevalent in regions where the land is more fertile and can occur up to altitudes of 1500 meters. The species is known for nesting in trees amidst open forest areas. Seasonal fluctuations in prey availability, such as mouse populations, can lead to irruptions, whereby the black-shouldered Kite might temporarily occupy atypical areas.
Dite type
Carnivorous
People often ask
General Info
Behavior
Black-shouldered kites usually hunt singly or in pairs, though where food is plentiful they occur in small family groups and can be loosely gregarious at times of irruptions, with up to 70 birds reported feeding together during a mouse plague. They roost communally, like other Elanus species. They are territorial when food is not abundant. The practice of "tail flicking" where, on landing, the tail is flicked up and lowered and the movement repeated persistently is thought to be a possible territorial display.
Distribution Area
Black-shouldered kites may be sedentary or nomadic, and are generally found in open grasslands or valleys where there are scattered clumps of trees, where the grass or groundcover is accessible from the air and ranges from 30 cm to 1.5 m (1–3 ft) high. As well as native grasslands they forage over pastures, cereal or vegetable crops and vineyards, often focusing on areas that have been recently harvested or ploughed and hence rendering prey more exposed. In urban areas they are encountered on the edge of towns on wasteland, irregularly mown areas, sports fields, golf courses or grassy roadside verges. They also hunt over coastal dunes and drier marshland, but avoid areas with dense cover such as forest as well as bare or rocky ground. Their numbers fluctuate during drought and floods, and can be irruptive in response to sudden increases in mouse populations. The most distant banding recovery was from the Red Banks area in South Australia to Lithgow in eastern New South Wales three and a half years later, a distance of 1,073 km (667 mi). Although reported throughout Australia, they are most common in the relatively fertile south-east and south-west corners of the mainland, and in south-east Queensland. They are rare in the deep desert and dryer areas such as western Cape York or the Northern Territory, and are occasional visitors to northern Tasmania, King Island, and the Torres Strait islands.
Species Status
European occupation of Australia has, on the whole, benefited the black-shouldered kite through land clearing and irrigation for agriculture and grain harvesting and storage practices which provide suitable conditions for much larger numbers of mice. As the species has a large range and an increasing population, it is listed as "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened species. In southwestern Australia, it has become one of the most commonly recorded raptors in the wheatbelt. According to raptor researcher Stephen Debus, this species did not suffer from eggshell thinning during the period of DDT use in Australia, though he believes secondary poisoning is possible from rodenticides used during mouse plagues or from pesticides used during locust plagues. Populations in areas with high sheep and rabbit numbers may decline, as these animals compact the soil and reduce the available habitat for mice.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Family
Hawks Genus
Black-shouldered Kites Species
Black-shouldered Kite 
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