THE Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris) is featured this month in the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority’s 2026 Year of the Raptor community awareness campaign.
Goulburn Broken CMA Project Officer, Janice Mentiplay-Smith, said the Black-shouldered Kite was gull-like in appearance.
“This bird can be seen hovering above open grasslands, paddocks and even grassy median strips on the Hume Freeway,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
“As if held by an invisible string, the hovering Black-shouldered Kite suspends itself mid-flight while scanning for prey.
“Once detected, it drops like a stone to grab its meal, then flies away before a larger raptor steals it. Prey is eaten either in flight or from a tall lookout such as a standing dead tree.”
Ms Mentiplay-Smith said not all raptors employ the hovering technique.
“Many soar and dive, but the Black-shouldered kite hovers in style, suspended in mid-air with legs dangling.”
True to its name, the Black-shouldered Kite has black shoulders and wing tips which contrast against its snow-white body. Its distinctive red eye is notable, as is its dark feathers, extending beyond the eye ‘Cleopatra style’.
As part of the Black-shouldered Kite courtship ritual, the female will flip upside-down in mid-air to grab food offered by the wooing male. Together, they construct a large stick nest in a tall tree and incubate three or four eggs for 30 days. After just five weeks, the chicks are fully fledged and ready to hover and hunt.
Local birding group, Murray Goulburn BirdLife, meets monthly for outings and enjoys the local environment. The next event is on Saturday, June 20, at the Wyuna Nature Conservation Reserve. For more information, contact: robertsdon680@gmail.com
