Black Kites and their Indian relatives Pariah Kites are voracious scavengers,
and their
claws are very sharp. In northern Australia I have seen barbecues at camping
areas
surrounded by 'kite baffles' - usually a lampshade-shaped structure of chicken
wire from
about human head height upwards. They are needed. If you think Kookaburras are
unwelcome guests, Kites are much worse. Their speed, agility and willingness to
approach
humans (if there's any food going) are remarkable.
In the days of the Raj, newly arrived British soldiers soon learned not to
carry their
food uncovered from the cookhouse - it would be instantly snatched and the
soldier left
hungry.
Anthea Fleming
> I'd don't believe that kites are vegetarians, so I think if kites
> replaced gulls round the city, it would be due to a plague of rats or
> something similar and that people might appreciate the "work" they do.
>
> On 13/10/2008, at 8:32 AM, Evan Beaver wrote:
>
>> I've only seen them zoom past the camera a couple of times, but the
>> forked tail looked pretty good to me. Maybe smaller than our kite?
>> Very hard to tell.
>>
>> I wonder if we'd hate them as much if kites replaced silver gulls
>> around the city?
>>
>> EB
>>
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
