Black-winged kite

The black winged kite is a small diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, native to the Palearctic and Afrotropical regions, known for hovering over grassland like a small kestrel. French naturalist Rene Louiche Desfontaines described it in 1789 as Falco caeruleus, with Algiers as its type locality, and it was placed in the genus Elanus, established in 1809, alongside three other kites distinguished by unusually small foot scales. Three subspecies are recognized, occupying southwestern Iberia and Africa, Pakistan to eastern China, and the Greater and Lesser Sunda Islands through the Philippines to New Guinea. It shows long falcon like wings extending beyond the tail when perched, white, grey and black plumage, and owl like forward facing eyes with red irises, a combination of traits thought to reflect convergent evolution with owls. It inhabits open lands and semi deserts, and its range has expanded north into southern Europe, Spain and Portugal since the 1860s alongside agricultural expansion. Unlike most raptors it can raise multiple broods a year and is nomadic rather than truly migratory, hunting insects, lizards and rodents by hovering and slow flight.