Black-winged Kite

----Taxobox
name = Black-winged Kite
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1

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image_width = 240px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Falconiformes
familia = Accipitridae
genus = "Elanus"
species = "E. caeruleus"
binomial = "Elanus caeruleus"
binomial_authority = Desfontaines, 1789

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 harriers.

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" kites.

This species was formerly referred to as the Black-shouldered Kite, but this name is now only used for the Australian species, "Elanus axillaris", which at one time (along with the American White-tailed Kite "E. leucurus") was treated as a subspecies of "E. caeruleus".

See also

* Black Kite
* Red Kite
* Black-shouldered Kite
* White-tailed Kite

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

Gallery