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Elanus caeruleus.
The black-winged kite is a small bird, the female is slightly larger than the male. The male kite measures, 30 to 35 cm in length and weighs 200 to 270 grams. The female weighs 220 to 340 grams. The wingspan is 75 to 90 cm. The kite has white, grey and blackish velvety plumage and owl like forward-facing eyes with orange red irises. The wings are long and the bird is predominantly greyish white. There is blackish shoulder patches, wing tips and eye stripe.
The black-winged kite species primarily inhabit open savanna grasslands with scattered bushes and small trees and semi-deserts areas. They have been also seen at higher altitudes in Sikkim, Nilgiris and Nagaland.
Spotted on Oct 1, 2016
Submitted on Oct 1, 2016
2 Comments
Thanks armadeus :)
I'm not 100% sure but I think it is a Black-winged Kite (subspecies: Elanus caeruleus vociferus) which is found in India. I think Black-shouldered Kites (Elanus axillaris) are here in Australia. Here is the link I looked at: http://indianbirds.thedynamicnature.com/... I also checked out Wikipedia. Hope this helps. Beautiful images. Thank you for sharing :) Liana