Adults: Head, upper back, throat, breast, upper belly, white with or without narrow black shaft streaks. Eye, brown to chestnut. Lower back, rump, tail, lower belly, undertail, underwing coverts, rufous, the back being darker. Primaries, distal half and outer web, black, inner webs at base, pale rufous. Cere, yellowish. Bill, greyish-blue. Legs, yellow.
Immatures: Head, throat, neck, mostly buff, mottled with pale brown. Back, wings, dark brown, feathers tipped with buff. Tail, reddish-brown. Breast, reddish-brown with buff shaft streaks. Belly, Undertail coverts, buff. Cere, yellowish. Bill, greyish-blue. Legs, yellow.
Other Names (World)
Brahminy Kite, Red-backed Sea Eagle, White-headed Sea Eagle, Red backed Kite, Whistling Eagle
Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) [XC311150]
by Marc Anderson from Yala National Park, Sri Lanka (call)
Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) [XC162209]
by Andrew Mascarenhas from Aldona, North Goa, Goa, India (call, song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
April - September in the north, August - October in the south and east.
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Nest
Large, composed of sticks and lined with fine bark, grass or leaves, and occasionally decorated on the sides with streamers of bleached seaweed, placed near the top of a tree.
Eggs (Guide)
1 - 3, usually 2; matt, white to pale blue, finely streaked and blotched with shades of brown, particularly at the larger end; oval to rounded-oval; about 53 x 41 mm. Incubation: about 26 - 27 days; almost entirely by female.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 50 - 55 days, with usually only one surviving.
Subspecies
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
indus (Boddaert, 1783) - Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka through south-eastern Asia to southern China.
intermedius Blyth, 1865 - Malay Peninsula, Greater and Lesser Sundas, Sulawesi and related small islands, Philippines and Sula Is (central Moluccas).
girrenera (Vieillot, 1822) - Moluccas, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago and Australia.
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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BirdLife International Species Factsheet