Black Kite

Milvus migrans

The most numerous raptor on Earth. Your message joins the world's busiest delivery fleet.

Population: ~6.7 million individuals globally (BirdLife International, 2021 assessment, IUCN Red List v2021-3, DOI 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T181568721A206588554.en)
Habitat: Open woodland, wetlands, and grassland near lakes/rivers; avoids heavily forested regions; increasingly common in human-modified and urban landscapes, especially in South Asia
Fun fact: Black Kites in northern Australia have been observed deliberately picking up smoldering sticks from wildfires and dropping them in unburned grass to flush out prey, a behavior documented in a 2017 Journal of Ethnobiology study and that has earned them the nickname "firehawks."
Range: Widespread across temperate and tropical Eurasia, Africa, and Australasia; temperate populations migratory (e.g. Europe-Africa via Gibraltar), tropical populations largely resident; five recognized subspecies per current English/French Wikipedia taxonomy (M. m. migrans, lineatus, govinda, affinis, formosanus) — described by German Wikipedia as "the world's most common raptor species"
Diet: Opportunistic hunter and scavenger — small mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, insects, carrion, and human refuse; will snatch food directly from people in urban areas
Size: 0.55 m
Wingspan: 1.5 m
Lifespan: 24 years

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