thumb|in [[Bangladesh]]

The black kite or fire kite (Milvus migrans) is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors. It is thought to be the world's most abundant species of Accipitridae, although some populations have experienced dramatic declines or fluctuations. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name, but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Falco migrans in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The type locality is France. The current genus Milvus was erected by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799. Milvus is the Latin word for a red kite; the specific migrans means "migrating" from the Latin migrare "to migrate".

The red kite has been known to hybridize with black kites (in captivity, where both species were kept together, and in the wild on the Cape Verde Islands).

  • M. m. migrans – <small>(Boddaert, 1783)</small>: European black kite

:Breeds Central, Southern and Eastern Europe, as well as the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa, to the Tien Shan and south to northwestern Pakistan. Winters in Sub-Saharan Africa. The head is whitish.

  • M. m. lineatus – <small>(J. E. Gray, 1831)</small>: black-eared kite

:Siberia to Amurland south around Himalaya to northern India, northern Indochina and southern China; Japan. Northern inland birds migrate to the eastern Persian Gulf coast and South Asia in winter. This has a larger pale .

  • M. m. govinda – <small>Sykes, 1832</small>: small Indian kite (formerly pariah kite)

:Eastern Pakistan east through tropical India and Sri Lanka to Indochina and the Malay Peninsula. Resident. A dark brown kite found throughout the subcontinent. Can be seen circling and soaring in urban areas. Easily distinguished by the shallow forked tail. The name pariah originates from the Indian caste system and usage of this name is deprecated. Recent genetic studies suggest that following the decline of local formosanus populations in Taiwan during the 20th century, the extant breeding populations in Taiwan now consist of intergrades between formosanus and lineatus.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="130">

File:Black kite (Milvus migrans migrans) in flight Huelva 2.jpg|M. m. migrans, Spain

File:Milvus migrans -Japan -flying-8.jpg|M. m. lineatus, Japan

File:Black Kite (Milvus migrans), Jalpaiguri.jpg|M. m. govinda, India

File:Black kite (Milvus migrans affinis) in flight Adelaide River 2.jpg|M. m. affinis, Australia

File:Black Kite flying at Port of Keelung 20091127.jpg|M. m. formosanus, Taiwan

</gallery>

thumb|Black kite flying at the beach in [[Kanagawa Prefecture|Kanagawa, Japan]]

Description

Black kites can be distinguished from red kites by their slightly smaller size, less forked tail (visible in flight), and generally dark plumage without any rufous. The sexes are alike though the male is a little smaller and less aggressive (this is the case in most birds of prey). They weigh on average. The upper plumage is brown, but the head and neck tend to be paler. The patch behind the eye appears darker. The outer flight feathers are black and the feathers have dark cross bars and are mottled at the base. The lower parts of the body are pale brown, becoming lighter towards the chin. The body feathers have dark shafts giving it a streaked appearance. The cere and gape are yellow, but the bill is black (unlike that of the yellow-billed kite). The legs are yellow and the claws are black. They have a distinctive shrill whistle followed by a rapid whinnying call. Males and females have the same plumage but females are longer than males and have a little larger wingspan. Their wingspan is around . Vagrants, most likely of the black-eared kite, on occasion range far into the Pacific, out to the Hawaiian Islands.

In India, the population of M. m. govinda is particularly large especially in areas of high human population. Here the birds avoid heavily forested regions. A survey in 1967 in the of the city of New Delhi produced an estimate of about 2200 pairs or roughly 15 per square kilometre. and rodents. leading to their being known in some circles as 'firehawks'.

The Indian populations are well adapted to living in cities and are found in densely populated areas. Large numbers may be seen soaring in thermals over cities. In some places, they will readily swoop and snatch food held by humans. The meat is thrown into the air and the kites dive-bomb for the meat. Humans who are in the vicinity may suffer serious injury due to the sharp talons of the kites. The reinforcement between human proximity and being fed have decreased the kite's fear of humans. Black kites in Spain prey on nestling waterfowl, especially during the summer months when they feed their young. Predation of nests of other pairs of black kites has also been noted.

Further reading

  • Torresian Black Kite – Milvus migrans affinis species profile – AussieAnimals.com. A detailed profile of the Torresian Black Kite, covering its behaviour, distribution, reproduction, conservation status, and ecological role in Australia
  • Black Kite species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
  • Ageing and sexing (PDF; 4.9 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze
  • All That Breathes - 2022 Documentary