![]() It is more common in the highveld grasslands fynbos and cultivated land areas and is largely absent from closed woodland and forest areas. The Black-shouldered Kite is one of the more common birds of prey seen in South Africa. Sizeīlack-shouldered Kites are mainly residents of open grasslands, probably because it is easier for them to see potential prey in open areas. Black-shouldered Kites are highly nomadic - moving about in search of prey. When prey is sighted, the kite glides gracefully straight down into the grass. This small raptor is able to hunt by hovering on upturned wings about 50 meters above the ground. The eye is dark red in adult and brownish-orange in immature birds. The bill is black, while the feet and legs, and the cere (skin at the base of the bill) are bright yellow. The bill is short with a sharp, hooked tip to the upper mandible. Did you know? During the breeding season black-shouldered kite perform impressive aerial displays to attract a mate. Young birds have a reddish-brown wash on the head and breast and the feathers of the upperparts are tipped white. There is a small black mask around the eye. The upperparts are bluish grey, with black wing coverts which appear as a distinctive, black shoulder patch. It’s a pity that the bird will never know how admired it was, that Sunday morning, when it was probably just concerned about its next Sunday meal, most likely a rodent.Elanus caeruleus - The Black-shouldered KiteĪ common bird of prey in South Africa, the Black-shouldered Kite is a small, grey and white raptor with a black shoulder. The Black-shouldered kite was back on the perch with a rodent and had started devouring it. Happily, this sleek handsome bird is found all over the country and, in fact, its habitat has been expanding as it enters areas that have been heavily deforested. In India, especially in the rural and agricultural belts, experts call this bird a Pied-Piper of Hamelin, as it has a gargantuan taste for rodent flesh.īlack-shoulder kite hovering (Courtsey: Osa Conservation) It hovers above her prey, scanning and analyzing the need for speed, before she swoops in for her favourite meal – rodents. When it comes to hunting, Black-shouldered kite is a hover-and-attack sort of bird. “It is hunting time – morning and evening, be ready”, our guide alerted us pointing towards the hovering bird. It was a sight to behold to watch her soar high. ![]() We waited for her to fly, her long wings spread out impressively as she took off. Maybe it is a form of display, but also when excited. When perched, black-shouldered kite raises and lowers the tail very often. And her tail-feathers look like hand-crafted Japanese fans. That is why she seems fashionable all the time. Her grey-and-white plumage wears a fresh coat of paint every other season. With sharp crimson eyes inside black frames, she thirsts for bloody sunsets. The black-shoulder kite looks like a character out of an animated film. In Hindi, It is known as Kapas because of its white colour. It may not be as big and powerful like eagles and falcons but it holds its own, and is very proficient at what it does. The black-shouldered kite also known as the black-winged kite is slightly smaller than a crow and is one of the smaller members of raptors. Though we were after the big raptors, this handsome bird stopped us in our tracks. Unlike other raptors which are big, dark and powerful birds with gimlet eyes, armed with grappling iron talons and cruel meat-hook bills, this bird was refined, silver-grey and snow-white, looking straight down out of eyes that seem to be made of pure rubies. That Sunday morning in Tal Chhapar Black Buck sanctuary in Rajasthan, we halted the jeep and watched the bird perching quietly at our eye level. Tail feathers of the black-shouldered kite look like a Japanese fan (All photos: Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha)
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