Black-Shouldered Kite
Elanus axillaris
Also known as: Australian Kite
Habitat
Ground
Diet
VertFishScav
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
270 g
About This Species
This small raptor hunts over open grassland, farmland, and roadside verges across Australia, hovering on stiff wingbeats before dropping onto rodents in the grass below. Its pale grey-and-white plumage with black shoulder patches makes it conspicuous against blue sky, and it is most active hunting in the low light of early morning and late afternoon. Open agricultural country with a healthy rodent population, particularly after wet seasons, tends to hold the highest numbers.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Watching from a car or a fixed roadside spot without approaching a hunting or nesting bird is usually enough to get a good look, since flushing it interrupts hunting and wastes energy.
- It is protected under Australian state and federal wildlife legislation, which prohibits disturbance, capture, or harm without a permit, and nest trees should be given a wide berth during the breeding season.
- General good practice is to stay in a vehicle where possible and avoid lingering directly beneath a nest.
LCAvesAccipitriformesAccipitridae
Seasonal Activity
207,161 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
Traits
- Diet
- VertFishScav
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 270 g
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.