Adults: Head, body, tail, pure white. Wings, grey with black shoulders. Cere, horn to yellow. Eye, red. Black mark in front of eye extends over and to rear of eye. Bill, black. Legs, yellow.
Immatures: Head and upperbreast, deep buff. Back and wings mottled buff or brown. Wing tips white. Bill, black. Legs, yellow.
Other Names (World)
Black-shouldered Kite, Australian Black-shouldered Kite
Food
Mice, lizards, grasshoppers and other insects.
Voice
A clear 'chee' with a sob, uttered repeatedly. A chicken-like 'cheep cheep cheep'. A harsh 'skairr' in aggression and a 'kik kik kik' at the nest.
Nest
A platform composed of sticks and twigs, lined with leaves. Often the deserted nest of a Crow or Magpie is used.
Eggs (Guide)
3 or 4; white, blotched red-brown; oval; about 40 x 30 mm. Incubation: about 30 days; by female.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 35 days.
Subspecies
Sometimes regarded as subspecies of Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus) , with which it forms superspecies, along with White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus). Has been called Elanus notatus on the grounds that Latham's axillaris was supposedly unidentifiable and could have applied to Letter-winged Kite (Elanus scriptus), but the illustration examined by Latham clearly does not depict scriptus.
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Letter-winged Kite (Elanus scriptus)
Nocturnal. Adult with adult. Prominent underwing black 'W' mark. Greyer above. Black mark in front of eye does not extend past rear of eye. Eyes, larger and deeper red. Legs whitish.
Immatures with immatures. Overall buffer without white tips to feathers. Legs whitish.
Grey Goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae)
Larger. Wings much wider. Underwing pure white. Grey morph: finely barred grey. Cere, bright yellow. Lacks a black mark through eye. Legs, bright yellow and longer.
Grey Falcon (Falco hypoleucos)
Greyer. Underwings white. Cere, rich yellow. Eye, black and eyering yellow. Lacks a black mark through eye. Legs, rich yellow.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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