Black Kite

 The 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐞 (𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬) is a 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐮𝐦-𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝  bird of prey in the family 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐞.

Black kites can be distinguished from red kites by the 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞, 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 and 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐫𝐮𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐬. The sexes are 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 though the 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 is a little 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 and 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 . They weigh on average 𝟕𝟑𝟓 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬. The 𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 is 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 but the 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 and 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤 tend to be 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫.The 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 of the body are 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧, becoming 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 towards the 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧. The 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥 is 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 , the 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬 are 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 and the 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬 are 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤.. They have a distinctive 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 followed by a 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥.Their 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐧 is around 𝟏𝟓𝟎 𝐜𝐦.

The species is found in 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚, 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚. The 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 of this kite tend to be 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 while the 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 are 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭.

Black kites are most often seen 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 and 𝐬𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 on 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐬 as they 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝.They will 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐩 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 with their 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 to 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐲, 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞 and 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐧.They are 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 and have been known to take 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐬, and 𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.They are 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 to 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐞 and 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 where they seek 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐲.