Milvus migrans

Black Kite [hēi yuān] is a medium-sized bird of prey with 5 subspecies.

The black kite (Milvus migrans) was divided into "black kite" (M. migrans) and "yellow-billed kite" (M. aegyptius) in 2014 (Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International 2020).

Black kites are active during the day, often flying alone at high altitudes, and sometimes in small groups of 2-3 in autumn. They fly fast and powerfully, and can skillfully use the rising thermal air currents to rise to high altitudes and hover for a long time. Their wings are stretched out and motionless, and their tails are spread out, constantly swinging and changing shapes like a rudder to adjust the direction of travel. Their wings also shake from time to time. They usually hover in circles, chirping while flying. The chirping sound is sharp, like a whistle, and can be heard from a long distance. They also have very sharp eyesight and can see the activities of animals on the ground when hovering at high altitudes. They are alert and difficult for people to approach.

Black kites mainly feed on animal food such as small birds, mice, snakes, frogs, fish, hares, lizards and insects, and occasionally eat poultry and carrion. They mainly rely on their keen vision to forage, usually by hovering in the air to observe and find food. When they find prey on the ground, they quickly swoop down, pounce on the prey, snatch it with their sharp claws, and fly to trees or rocks to peck at it.

The breeding season of black kites is from April to July. They nest in tall trees, more than 10 meters above the ground, and also nest on cliffs. The nest is shallow and mainly composed of dry branches. The structure is relatively loose, and the inside is padded with soft materials such as dry grass, paper scraps, rags, and feathers. Male and female birds build nests together. Usually the male bird transports the nesting materials, and the female bird stays on the nest to build the nest. The size of the nest is 40-100 cm, and sometimes the diameter is more than 1 meter. Each clutch contains 2-3 eggs, occasionally as few as 1 and as many as 5. The eggs are 53-68 mm × 41-48 mm in size, weigh about 52 grams, are obtusely oval, dirty white, and slightly dotted with blood-red spots. The male and female parents take turns incubating the eggs, and the incubation period is 38 days. The chicks are late-maturing, and after hatching, they are raised by both male and female parents. After about 42 days of nesting, the chicks can fly.

In Europe, the breeding population of black kites is estimated to be 186,000-254,000 breeding pairs, equivalent to 372,000-507,000 mature individuals (Bird Life International is in preparation). Europe accounts for about 9% of the global range, so the preliminary estimate of the global population size is 4,100,000-5,600,000 mature individuals, although this estimate needs further verification. It is thought to number between 4,000,000-5,700,000 mature individuals.

Although the Black Kite is probably the most common raptor in the world, its numbers have declined due to poisoning, shooting, water pollution and overuse of pesticides. Modernization of urban environments and improved agriculture are also thought to be responsible for local declines (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001). However, in Europe, the three countries with the largest Black Kite populations (comprising over 90% of the EU total) have stable or increasing population trends. Outside Europe, the overall trend is thought to be generally stable: it is stable in India (State of Birds of India 2020), has been increasing in Australia (Global Raptor Information Network 2015), but is thought to be possibly declining in China and elsewhere in Asia (Global Raptor Information Network 2015).

Listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2016, ver3.1 - Least Concern (LC).  

Listed in Appendix I, II and III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) 2019 Edition Appendix II.

Listed in China's National Key Protected Wildlife List (February 5, 2021) Level II.

Protect wild animals and stop eating game.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone's responsibility!

Residents: Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Comoros, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mayotte, Moldova, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Somalia, Spain (Canary Islands), Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, East Timor, Turkey, Ukraine, Vietnam and Yemen.
Breeding area: Afghanistan, Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Non-breeding: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cent

The base of the Black Kite's forehead and eyes are gray-white, the ear feathers are dark brown, the top of the head to the back of the neck is brown, and there are dark brown feather trunk lines. The upper body is dark brown, with a slight purple luster and inconspicuous thin dark horizontal stripes and light-colored end edges. The tail is brown and slightly forked, with black and brown horizontal bands of equal width arranged alternately. The tail end has a The feather edges are light brown and white; the middle coverts and minor coverts on the wings are light brown, with dark brown feather stem stripes; the primary coverts and large coverts are dark brown, the primary flight feathers are dark brown, and the base of the outer flight feathers is white, forming There is a large white spot under the wings; it is very eye-catching when flying. The secondary flight feathers are dark brown with inconspicuous dark horizontal spots; the chin, cheeks and throat of the lower body are grayi