Hello all,
Just a brief note regarding an observation of a single Square-tailed Kite near
Bendigo, 19/01/00.
I received a call from Roy Speechley who said he saw the bird at his bushland
property at Strathfieldsaye, 7 km south-east of Bendigo. I went to the site and
after some looking around, the bird was seen perched in a Grey Box tree, feeding
on something. Magpies, Magpie-larks, Noisy Miners and Dusky Woodswallows were
persistently mobbing the bird as it tried to feed. Eventually, it dropped its
food and took flight, flying around low above the canopy for a few minutes
before being driven away. We found the dropped food item; a nestling bird,
probably a Noisy Miner (nestlings are said to be a major food item in Pizzey &
Knight).
Square-tailed Kites are listed as endangered in Victoria and are generally a
rare species nation-wide. This is the second record to my knowledge of the
species occurring around Bendigo, and was the second personal sighting of the
species for me (first one was at Chiltern, north-east Vic).
Bye for now,
Chris Tzaros
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