Elanus caeruleus

Black-winged Kite is a small bird of prey with 5 subspecies.

In most areas, black-winged kites are resident birds and do not migrate. In China, they are resident birds in Yunnan Province and summer migratory birds in Zhejiang, Guangxi, and Hebei. They arrive at their breeding grounds in April and May in spring and leave their breeding grounds in October and November in autumn.

Black-winged kites often move alone in the morning and evening. They are often seen resting on the tops of trees or electric poles during the day. When birds and insects fly by, they suddenly rush over to eat. Sometimes they hover and soar in the air, and from time to time they raise their wings to glide in a ‘V’ shape. Occasionally, they also flap their wings, and their wings flap lightly, appearing quite light. When they find food on the ground, they suddenly swoop down. Their calls are thin and sharp, like ‘Kyuit’ or ‘knee’.

Black-winged kites mainly feed on field rodents, insects, birds, hares and reptiles. The main way of foraging is to wait on the tops of electric poles and tall trees, waiting for passing birds and insects, and then suddenly swooping down to catch them; another way is to hover and glide silently in the sky for a long time, observe the movement on the ground, and then swoop down to grab the prey when they find it.

Nests are built on trees or high shrubs in plains or mountainous and hilly areas. The nest is loose and simple, mainly composed of dead branches, sometimes with thin grass roots and grass stems, or no inner padding at all. Each nest lays 3-5 eggs, which are white or light yellow, with dark red or reddish brown spots, oval in shape, and 36-42 mm × 29-32 mm in size, with an average of 39 mm × 31 mm. The male and female parents take turns incubating eggs and raising chicks, and the incubation period is 25-28 days. The chicks mature late and are fed by both male and female parents after hatching. After 30-35 days of feeding, the chicks can fly away from the nest.

Listed in Appendix II of the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, effective in 1997

Listed in the 2013 Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) ver 3.1 - Least Concern (LC).

Listed in China's national key protection level: Level 2 Effective date: 1989

Listed in the "Red Book of Endangered Animals in China" level: Vulnerable Effective date: 1996

Listed in the "List of Wildlife under National Key Protection in China" Level 2.

Protect wildlife and eliminate game.

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Origin: Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya , Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Portugal, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Thailand, East Timor, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Migrant birds: Afghanistan, Austria, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Madagascar, Netherlands,

The sexes of the black-winged kite are similar. There are dark spots on the eyes and on the eyes, the forehead is white, and gradually turns to gray on the top of the head. The feathers on the back of the neck, back, shoulders, waist, and up to the tail are blue-grey. The small and middle coverts on the wings are black, the trailing edge of the large coverts, the secondary and primary coverts are blue-gray, the primary flight feathers are dark gray, and the outer 7 feathers have black tips. The central tail feathers are gray with sandy yellow tips. The tail feathers on both sides are grayish white with leathery yellow tips. The rest have dark gray rachis. The entire lower body and underwing coverts are white, but the undersurface of the primary flight feathers is black, and the secondary flight feathers are gray with light tips. The front part of the tarsometatarsus is half feathered and half naked. The tail is flat, slightly concave in the middle, and has a shallow fork shape. Young b