Face mask can be distinctive although this is sometimes extinguished in strong sunlight. Apparent dark and light can vary with age and light. HANZAB: adult – ‘shading to paler grey on forehead, cheeks, chin and throat; varying darker brown stripe from in front of eye to rear ear-coverts’; juvenile – ‘head and neck dark brown, densely streaked cream to buffish cream, making whole head appear pale, with dark eye-stripe more prominent’.
The name ‘Black Kite’ is of European origin, being used to distinguish the species from the Red Kite, which is not found in Australia. Fr – Milan noir; Ger – Schwarzmilan; Sp – Milano negro. An earlier Australian name was ‘Fork-tailed Kite’ which is unsuitable for the species across its whole range because the Red Kite has the more deeply forked tail.
From: Philip Veerman [
Sent: Thursday, 30 October 2014 11:02 PM
To:
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Id Help please
No, sorry Bob and Julie, it is absolutely a Black Kite. Here is the same photo lightened up a bit.
It has a forked (not square) tail, the dark face mask is distinctive of Black Kite, as is the almost no barring on wings, generally dark all over with no very different pale areas, no dark tip to tail, no pale face.
-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Rusk [
Sent: Thursday, 30 October 2014 8:46 PM
To: Julie Clark; COG Chatline
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Id Help please
Its a Square-tailed Kite. these are becoming more common in the south of the state, The big ID points are ,of course, the square tail,plus the pale head and the "white mirrors" under the wings. Its seen usually flying low over the tops of trees and sectioning one area at a time, The last snap shows all the points to look for.
On Thursday, 30 October 2014, 20:12, Julie Clark <> wrote:
I have just spent a couple of days in Deniliquin and spotted quite a few raptors.
The attached photos are all the same bird and my best Id is a Black Kite, but I have extremely limited knowledge of raptors, so help with the id would be much appreciated. (photos not good!)
I have lightened the photos to better see the detail ... the bird was large and was dark in overall colour, with the head appearing a little lighter.
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