Black-winged Kite

Elanus caeruleus (Desfontaines, 1789)

≈40 cmLength83 cmWingspan260 gWeight

It has a grayish-white body, black scapulars and wingtips, forward-facing red eyes, and often hovers.

Busiest months: October–January · Most records: India, China, Portugal

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Body grayish-white, with black patches on scapulars and wingtips
Black eyestripe; eyes face forward, iris red
Wingtips extend beyond tail when perched
Tail short and square, not forked

Male, female and young

Sexes alike in plumage; immature has rufous tones.

Voice

Vocalizations are high and thin.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: October–January · Most records: India, China, Portugal

Black-winged Kite has been recorded at 1,965 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 93 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Lezíria Grande de Vila Franca de Xira – área geralPortugal2,899 records
Bharatpur – Keoladeo Ghana NPIndia1,545 records
Poleg MarshIsrael1,418 records

More places

Strandfontein WTPSouth Africa1,406 records
Nairobi NPKenya1,403 records
Hama'apil FishpondsIsrael1,374 records
Aogu Wetland IBATaiwan (China)1,283 records
La Janda – ÁreaSpain1,203 records
Taipei – Beitou Guizikeng Drainage CanalTaiwan (China)1,080 records
Hoskote / Hosakote KereIndia1,061 records

Countries and regions with the most records

India China Portugal South Africa Israel Kenya Spain Thailand

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The black-winged kite (Elanus caeruleus), also known as the black-shouldered kite (not to be confused with the closely related Australian species of the same name), is a small diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae best known for its habit of hovering over open grasslands in the manner of the much smaller kestrels. This Palearctic and Afrotropical species was sometimes combined with the Australian black-shouldered kite (Elanus axillaris) and the white-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus) of North and South America which together form a superspecies.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia