26 Jan 2022

Black-winged Kite – calls, aerial-quartering

by | posted in: birds, Miscellaneous, Raptors, Vocalisation | 0

Saw a number of Black-winged Kites (Elanus caeruleus vociferous) at this site – pairs and single birds. One pair interested me as they were calling out to each other. There were other raptors, Brahminy Kites and many Harriers around, but not could be considered intruders (not interfering or threatening) apart from me. Hence I felt the calls were a communication between the pair and were made when apart from each other; very soon after I saw them mating (below).

The calls were made often and without the beak opened. The calls were the classical piping whistle – sonogram and waveform, see below…

…and an edited audio recording here: https://soundcloud.com/amar-singh-hss/black-winged-kite-elanus-caeruleus-vociferus-calls

I also saw one of the birds foraging by aerial-quartering – hovering above the dry paid fields looking for prey and making a fast drop to capture it. Hard to show this on static images (composite images shown above, taken 7.30am) and a gif-video (no time for conventional video) here: https://youtu.be/euw94yb6d3c

 

Amar-Singh HSS (Dato’ Dr)

Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

 

Location: Ulu Dedap, Perak, Malaysia

Habitat: Extensive Rice Growing region, providing wetlands

Date: 7th February 2019

Equipment: Nikon D500 SLR with Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD, handheld with Rode VideoMic Pro Plus Shotgun Microphone

 

Follow YC Wee:

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

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