The Black Kite (Milvus migrans) is a medium-sized raptor, 55–65 cm long with a wingspan of 130–155 cm and a weight of 600–1,000 grams, entirely dark brown in plumage and lacking the warm rust-red tone and clear white "windows" under the primaries that mark the closely related Red Kite. The most reliable field mark is the tail: only shallowly and gently notched, compared with the Red Kite's deeply forked tail, which twists like a rudder in flight. The Black Kite has a light, buoyant, manoeuvring flight and is often seen gliding low over water; its call is a plaintive, slightly quivering whistle, similar to but lighter and thinner than the Red Kite's.
Probably the world's most numerous bird of prey, the Black Kite has an enormous range across Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, and in the tropics gathers in large numbers around human settlements, landfills and waste sites. In Sweden, however, it is a genuine rarity — only isolated pairs breed in the southern provinces, with a total of just a few dozen pairs, though the number is slowly increasing; the species is red-listed as endangered nationally despite being secure globally. As a long-distance migrant, Swedish and other European birds winter in Africa, and the species is seen here only during the summer half of the year, chiefly as scattered records at open water in Skåne and on Öland. It nests in a deciduous tree, often near water, building a stick nest frequently lined with scraps of rubbish and cloth, and lays 2–3 eggs incubated for just over a month. As a versatile scavenger and opportunist it feeds largely on carrion and refuse, but also takes fish — especially dead or dying fish picked from the water surface — along with small rodents, nestling birds, frogs and large insects.
Read about this species in Swedish →