Black kite juvenile in flight. it was flying in a colony of 50 or so birds. intelligent and inquisitive, several specimens circling lower in the sky to see what i was doing. black kites are also known as "fire hawks" as they have been observed to pick up burning branches in a fire and transport them to new areas that are not burning in order to spread the fire and flush out prey. how smart is that!
some pro tips for inexperienced birders - adult black kites have a yellow cere. juveniles do not. whistling kites have a rounded tail, not forked. and square tailed kites, whilst having a forked tail, have a distinctive black bar at the trailing edge of their tail. this bird lacks the yellow cere, rounded tail, and black bar. wing patterning is wrong for a little eagle and colouring is wrong for a red goshawk (plus, out of range for that species). a black-breasted buzzard is both larger, and has a much larger beak and is also out of area.
https://ebird.org/species/blakit1
some pro tips for inexperienced birders - adult black kites have a yellow cere. juveniles do not. whistling kites have a rounded tail, not forked. and square tailed kites, whilst having a forked tail, have a distinctive black bar at the trailing edge of their tail. this bird lacks the yellow cere, rounded tail, and black bar. wing patterning is wrong for a little eagle and colouring is wrong for a red goshawk (plus, out of range for that species). a black-breasted buzzard is both larger, and has a much larger beak and is also out of area.
https://ebird.org/species/blakit1
