The Black Kite is perhaps the most numerous medium-sized bird of prey in the world. Leading half of the wings are dark and the trailing half pale. Can be confused with the Marsh Harrier, although it does not cant its wings up during gliding. The tail is only slightly forked.
The term "medium-sized" can be deceptive. The black kite is just a bit smaller than an Egyptian Vulture, and about the same size as buzzards and ospreys (see Bird Sizes). It's wingspan is around 170 cm.
Some books say the black kite is common near human habitation, but we've seen them mostly out on the open spaces of the Camargue. We've seem them even closer (flying much lower) in the Var departement (between Cannes and Marseille - map).
One black kite, that we encountered June 2008 in the Var, seemed to be hunting the fields just above us, only about 10-15 m high. It sat in a tree at the edge of the woods, crying "creeee, cree-cree-cree",then would launch out to "hunt" the fields very near us. One possibility is that, instead of hunting, it was trying to warn us away from its nest. This one is in [Photos 4] to [ 6 ].
Habitat
Near water; open fields and meadows, hills and plains; the edge of forest areas.
Prey
Rodents, lizards, young birds, earthworms.
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Photo gallery of 6 photos for Black Kite
