When fishing over water, they may sometimes land in the water but manage to swim and take off without much trouble.

Immature birds have been observed in playful behavior, such as dropping leaves and attempting to catch them in the air. They also hunt from a waterside perch and capture prey in flight. They forage by flying low above the ground or over water and snatch live prey or carrion from the surface. Their diet varies considerably between different populations and is influenced by what is readily available in their habitat. They will also hunts live prey, such as small mammals (hares and bats), small birds, crustaceans (crabs), amphibians (frogs and snakes), small reptiles, fish and insects. Whistling Kites, which have longer tails and distinctive underwing patterns īrahminy kites are known to be opportunistic scavengers that will eat just about anything, including food waste (from boats and rubbish dumps) carrion (dead animals), such as dead fish and crabs.Red Kites can be identified by their forked tails.the Asian Black Kite, which are darker, have longer wings and the tail is forked, rather than rounded.Similar SpeciesĪdults are umistakable, although could be confused with Ospreys however, they are dark below rather than white. Immature Brahminy Kites have brown plumages with darker upperparts, and a lighter head and underparts.

Males and females look alike, except females are often slightly larger in size. This kite has a sharply contrasting plumage with a mostly bright chestnut body, except for white head, neck, throat, upper belly and flanks a white-tipped tail and black outer flight feathers. The females tend to be slightly larger than the males.

Brahminy Kite (flavirostris) (Haliastur indus flavirostris – Condon and Amadon, 1954)īrahminy Kites measure about 18 – 20 inches (45 – 51 cm) in length, and have a wingspan of 3.6 – 4.1 feet (109 – 124 cm).

Range: Maluku Islands (Moluccas), New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago islands, and coastal northern Australia.

Brahminy Kite (girrenera) (Haliastur indus girrenera – Vieillot, 1822).

Range: Malay Peninsula, and in the Greater and Lesser Sundas, Sulawesi, the Philippines, and the Sula Islands.

Brahminy Kite (intermedius) (Haliastur indus intermedius – Blyth, 1865).

Range: Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka through southeast Asia.

Brahminy Kite (nominate) (Haliastur indus indus – Boddaert, 1783).

However, their numbers have declined in parts of their range, such as on island of Java. This species is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Occasionally, they roost in flocks on large and isolated trees as many as 600 of them have been sighted at one location. They are usually alone in pairs or in small family groups. They are also observed in inland wetlands, flying over forests and rice paddies, and along rivers. They are most commonly seen sailing on level wings along shorelines, mudflats, mangrove swamps and estuaries.

United Arab Emirates (unkown whether introduced or natural) They are native to the following countries:Īustralia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Macao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Province of China, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Viet Namīhutan, Hong Kong, Maldives, Palau, Vanuatu Within their expansive range, these birds are mostly resident, except for some seasonal movements associated with rainfall in some parts of their range. However, they are more common in the north of its range. In Australia, their range stretches across northern Australia, mainly along the coastline from Western Australia to northern New South Wales. These magnificent raptors occur naturally on the Indian subcontinent, through southern China and south-east Asia, south into Australia as far south as New South Wales.

Brahminy kite falconer