Accipitridae

White hawk with pale-grey wings and black shoulders, eye red, feet yellow. Immature: mottled buff or brown above, wings and flight feathers black, patchy deep-buff zone round upper breast.

Diurnal Nocturnal, Sedentary and Nomadic. The small black-shouldered kite is usually seen hovering gracefully or gliding on unswept wings as it hunts above tall grasses. In flight, it looks a delicate white bird with black wing tips and shoulder patches.

Coastal Woodland Grassland Wetlands, Open and lightly timbered country; coastal areas; Rainforest; Inland waters and fringing forests, Floodplains.

Photo Darwin, NT.

March to September, Breed repeatedly in good seasons, otherwise between May and October raising 3 chicks over 12 weeks. 3 to 4; whitish, blotched reddish-brown. Nest sticks lined with leaves. Incubation period 30 days by female only, fledge in 5 wks.

Kakadu National Park

Carnivore, feeds mainly on rats; mice; lizards and grasshoppers. Each bird probably consumes over 1,000 mice in a year.