- Lophoictinia isura
Identification
Obvious on the sitting bird is the very long wings going well past the tail; long wings are also visible, if less obvious, in the flying bird.
Similar species
Little Eagle has tricolored underside of arm while Whistling Kite has only two colors when going front to back. Little Eagle also has shorter tail and wings.
Distribution
Australia: widely distributed but generally rare with records from all mainland states. Possibly most numerous in Western Australia but nomadic and could be seen virtually throughout the country.
Rarest in the south-east.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Open woodland, grassland with scattered trees, riverine woodland and rocky gorges.
Behaviour
Often plunders nests of birds (most often honeyeaters) with large, almost grown, nestlings.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Birdforum thread discussing id of Square-tailed Kite vs Little Eagle
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Square-tailed Kite. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 21 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Square-tailed_Kite
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
