I am about to send off to Michael Lenz in his role of Editor of CBN, a record of a Square-tailed Kite (plus another species) that have not been previously recorded for COG’s Area of Interest. It was seen by Richard Allen and Paul Mahoney, two very competent observers that had seen the species previously, and myself who is very familiar with the species from surveys along the East Australian coast and elsewhere, and Chris Davey who had not seen the species before.
The Square-tailed Kite is becoming increasingly common along the South Coast as Bob Rusk and others have noted on this and other forums.
I also sent Julie an email confirming the species as a Black Kite – sometimes I forget to hit “reply to all”.
Mark
From: Philip Veerman [
Sent: Friday, 31 October 2014 11:20 AM
To:
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Id Help please
Geoffrey's photos are a match for Julie's bird.
All true but the Square-tailed Kite is a very different species. It has a wing shape that also sets it apart. I wonder what Bob means that Square-tailed Kite are becoming more common in the south of the state. Yes some move towards the NSW mid and south coast for the summer to breed. But common, I doubt it. I don't get out of Canberra all that much in recent years but in all my life I have only seen one in SW Qld and a breeding pair in east coast Victoria.
I think the Square-tailed Kite looks more like a harrier than it looks like a Black Kite. I am also sure that the old Fork-tailed Kite name of causes confusion. Not so long ago one Australian visitor posted photos of a raptor seen among a flock of Black Kites. Presumably because of the square tail he thought it was a Square-tailed Kite but it was clearly a Little Eagle.
Philip
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.
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 [m("rocketmail.com","bobrusk");">]
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.
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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