Black-winged kite

Description

This long-winged raptor is predominantly grey or white with black shoulder patches,wing tips and eye stripe.The long falcon-like wings extend beyond the tail when the bird is perched.In flight,the short and square tail is visible and it is not forked as in the typical kites of the genus Milvus.When perched,often on roadside wires,it often adjusts its wings and jerks its tail up and down as if to balance itself.The sexes are alike in plumage.Their large forward-facing eyes placed under a bony shelf that shades them is distinctive;their velvety plumage and zygodactyl feet are characters shared with owls and the genus has been considered as a basal group within the Accipitridae.They are thought to have been adapted for living in savanna habitats where seasonal rodent population peaks occur.Such food resources are also favoured by the owls.The inner vanes of the feathers have velvety barbules.They have a diploid chromosome number of 68 (some older studies claimed 64 for E.c.caeruleus and 66 for E.c.vociferus) with a distinct karyotype with resemblances to the kites and honey buzzards and suggesting a basal position within the diurnal birds of prey.