The black-winged kite species is distributed in Europe, Africa, Asia, Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Philippines, New Guinea and Indonesia.
Taxonomy of Black-winged kite
Scientific Name: Elanus caeruleus
Common Name: Black-winged kite
French: Élanion blac; German: Gleitaar; Spanish: Elanio común;
Other names: Falco caeruleus Desfontaines, 1789; Elanus melanopterus; Black-shouldered Kite; Common Black-shouldered Kite;
Family: Accipitridae › Accipitriformes › Aves › Chordata › Animalia
Species author: (Desfontaines, 1789)
Elanus caeruleus is closely related to E. axillaris and E. leucurus. The four recognized subspecies are: E. c. caeruleus (Desfontaines, 1789), E. c. vociferus (Latham, 1790), E. c. hypoleucus Gould, 1859 and E. c. wahgiensis Mayr & Gilliard, 1954.
Description
The black-winged kite is a small bird, the female is slightly larger than the male. The male kite measures, 30 to 35 cm in length and weighs 200 to 270 grams. The female weighs 220 to 340 grams. The wingspan is 75 to 90 cm.
