Bird Watching - Black Kite

Black Kite

A large brown hawk , distinguished from all similar birds by its angled wing and distinctive forked tail. Their dorsal coloration is mostly brown, which fades to a darker brown towards the tips of the wings and tail. The ventral color is mostly brown, but with a lighter brown to nearly rust color markings dispersed throughout. These markings are especially evident along the ventral body surface. The head of black kites is lighter in color.

Black kites have small, bead-like dark brown eyes and a large black, hook-shaped beak for tearing flesh and consuming their prey. The outer edge of their wings appears to be "fingered" (a space between each feather gives the appearance of fingers). In addition, this species is recognized for its yellow cere, the skin located on the top of the beak near the nostrils. Black kites are often called "fork-tailed kites" because of the distinct shape of their tails.

Local Names : Cheel (Hindi)

                     Chakky Parunth (Malayalam)

                     Paria Parandu (Tamil)

Scientific Name : Milvus migrans

Black kites typically live in social groups. During the breeding season, however, they can be solitary or live in smaller groups.

Black kites have broad, carnivorous diets and feed on many different animal species.They will steal eggs from other kites for food and scavenge dead carcasses left behind from other animals. Black kites also are known to hover over fires to catch insects. Their diet also includes a variety of fish, reptiles, amphibians and other small mammals and birds.

Nest is an untidy platform of twigs, iron wire, tow, rags and rubbish of every description, up in a large tree or on roof or cornice of a building. Both the male and female assist in the nest building process. Female black kites invest their time in incubating eggs, while males are responsible for providing food to the female and their offspring. Eggs are 2 or 4 , dirty pinkish white, lightly spotted and blotched with reddish brown. Incubation averages 32 days.

References

The Book of Indian Birds (Salim Ali)

Wikipedia

animaldiversity.org

Pictures:

Kerala, Bangalore 

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Difference between Eagle and Kite

Eagle and Kite both are birds of prey. Although these birds portray some similarities, they are different from each other in terms of size, habitat, hunting style and type of prey.

An eagle is a bird of prey that is known for its larger size, powerful build, heavier head and a big beak. 

Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey that is known for its V-shaped tail. Typically, a kite has a small head, short beak, partly bare face and long narrow wings and tail.