Black Kite

Having spent some considerable time in heavy traffic, it was good to be able to go birding again along a very hot track across the Doi Lor rice fields. Some fifteen Black Kite Milvus milgrans were seen on this particular day and this photo taken at distance is possibly a juvenile of the subspecies known as Black-eared Kite M.m.lineatus. Black Kite is one of the most common raptors hundreds often being seen over large cities in Asia such as Kathmandhu.

Two subspecies of the Black Kite occur in the Oriental Region: the Palearctic M. m.lineatus, frequently referred to as the ‘Black-eared’ Kite, which is mainly migratory in central and east Asia, south to the Himalayas and north Indochina, wintering in South Asia and regularly observed on migration each October moving north to south in Thailand as well as east to west in Nepal; and M. m. govinda, locally known as the ‘Pariah’ Kite, which is mainly sedentary in South Asia, Myanmar, Thailand and south Indochina, wandering south to Peninsular Malaysia.

Reference: Oriental Bird Club