Alternative name: Black-breasted Kite
- Hamirostra melanosternon
Identification
Very short, square-tipped tail, long feathers on the nape may be raised in a short crest, white 'bull's eye' marks are seen under the wings, sandy brown breast in light-phase birds or dark brown and black in the dark-phase. Females are larger than males.
Distribution
Australia: widely distributed but generally rare. Occurs throughout Northern Territory and most of Western Australia except the south-west corner, in the interior of South Australia, most of Queensland and northern New South Wales. Commonest in the north of the country. Resident and nomadic. Vagrants recorded in Victoria and Tasmania.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Habitat
Open woodland, grassland with scattered trees, scrubland and riverine woodland.
Behaviour
The nest is a platform of large, dry sticks, with smaller sticks on top, placed in a tree along a waterway. The shallow saucer is lined with green leaves. 2 eggs are laid and both parents incubate, for about 40 days; both parents brood and feed the young which fledge after about 60 days.
The diet includes rabbits, large lizards, birds and carrion and the eggs of ground-nesting birds.
