Black-winged Kite vs White-tailed Kite

Black-winged Kite

Elanus caeruleus

Medium260 gGrassland

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.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · Begging call · Bacilly, Manche, Normandie, France · CC0

Photo: Kingshuk Mondal · CC BY 4.0

White-tailed Kite

Elanus leucurus

Large346 gUrban

The coloration of the white-tailed kite is gull-like, but its shape and flight are falcon-like, with a rounded tail. While it has white faces and white underparts, it has black wingtips, beaks, and shoulders. Contrastingly, the white-tailed kite has deep red eyes that stand out at night. A mid-sized kite, it measures 35–43 cm (14–17 in) in length, spans 88–102 cm (35–40 in) across the wings, and weighs 250–380 g (8.8–13.4 oz). Both the wings and tail are relatively elongated, and the tarsi measure around 3.6 cm (1.4 in).

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Greg Schechter · CC BY 2.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Black-winged Kite and White-tailed Kite.