Kite ID (1 Viewer)

[Sergo Travelian]

Please help with Kite ID.
Spotted 04/04/2024 in Kyiv region, Ukraine

 

[tconzemi]

Difficult one, when doubting it's always a Black Kite

 

[Butty]

Oh. Could you expand? - plumage reasons? From looking only at the proportions (tail-length, depth of fork), I'd have said (perhaps unwisely!) red kite for both without thinking.

 

[Hotspur]

No records of red kite on ebird for the Kiev region and only a single record away from the Western border. Obviously doesn't identify the bird in question but gives justification to the default.

 

[Sergo Travelian]

No records of red kite on ebird for the Kiev region and only a single record away from the Western border. Obviously doesn't identify the bird in question but gives justification to the default.

Not everyone uses eBird.

In the Kyiv region rare vagrants:

Red Kite (Milvus milvus)

Red Kite from Obolons'kyi, UA-KC, UA on July 22, 2018 by Kostiantyn Pysmennyi

www.inaturalist.org

Red Kite (Milvus milvus)

Red Kite from Obolons'kyi, UA-KC, UA on May 17, 2015 by Kostiantyn Pysmennyi

www.inaturalist.org

https://ukraine.birds.watch/v2taxgal.php?s=1432&l=en&p=0

In 2021 we had an individual with a GPS tracker who spent nearly a month near Kyiv at the garbage dump.

In the west of Ukraine, several couples breed annually. Even spotted mixed couples Red and Black Kites.

 

[Hotspur]

Not everyone uses eBird.

In the Kyiv region rare vagrants:

Red Kite (Milvus milvus)

Red Kite from Obolons'kyi, UA-KC, UA on July 22, 2018 by Kostiantyn Pysmennyi

www.inaturalist.org

Red Kite (Milvus milvus)

Red Kite from Obolons'kyi, UA-KC, UA on May 17, 2015 by Kostiantyn Pysmennyi

www.inaturalist.org

In 2021 we had an individual with a GPS tracker who spent nearly a month near Kyiv at the garbage dump.

In the west of Ukraine, several couples breed annually. Even spotted mixed couples Ren and Black Kites.

Absolutely - I wasn't suggesting this was a definitive position, just what's on ebird. Tbh I think this looks fine for Black kite. It is in a posture that emphasizes the tail fork and makes it look longer, and the poor quality makes interpreting the size and definition of the pale panel in the hand difficult as well as the colour. There is no strong evidence this is a red kite on a region where black kite is default.

 

[tconzemi]

Reasons for BK are no bold white primary window and the further you go east the deeper forked some BK are
Otherwise another deceptive pic wigh many artefacts, if this is taken with a smartphone, should have been eqsy to id Red Kite with binos

 

[lou salomon]

Looks like a pale Black Kite, also, head is dark. Indeed, this far east Red Kite is a real vagrant.