Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Accipitriformes > Accipitridae > Haliastur > Haliastur sphenurus

Haliastur sphenurus (Whistling Kite)

Synonyms: Milvus sphenurus

Wikipedia Abstract

The whistling kite (Haliastur sphenurus) is a medium-sized diurnal raptor found throughout Australia (including coastal islands), New Caledonia and much of New Guinea (excluding the central mountains and the northwest). Also called the whistling eagle or whistling hawk, it is named for its loud whistling call, which it often gives in flight. Some authorities put this species in the genus Milvus, despite marked differences in behaviour, voice and plumage between this species and other members of that genus.
View Wikipedia Record: Haliastur sphenurus

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
5
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
26
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 10.6216
EDGE Score: 2.45286
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  1.647 lbs (747 g)
Birth Weight [2]  56.5 grams
Female Weight [1]  1.863 lbs (845 g)
Male Weight [1]  1.433 lbs (650 g)
Weight Dimorphism [1]  30 %
Diet [3]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Carnivore (Vertebrates), Piscivore
Diet - Ectothermic [3]  10 %
Diet - Endothermic [3]  10 %
Diet - Fish [3]  10 %
Diet - Invertibrates [3]  10 %
Diet - Scavenger [3]  60 %
Forages - Ground [3]  100 %
Clutch Size [5]  2
Clutches / Year [1]  1
Incubation [4]  36 days
Mating System [2]  Monogamy
Maximum Longevity [4]  11 years
Raptor Research Conservation Priority [6]  82
Snout to Vent Length [1]  22 inches (55 cm)
Wing Span [4]  4.362 feet (1.33 m)

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
New Caledonia New Caledonia No
Southwest Australia Australia No

Prey / Diet

Anseranas semipalmata (Magpie-Goose)[4]
Nettapus pulchellus (Green Pygmy Goose)[4]

Prey / Diet Overlap

Competing SpeciesCommon Prey Count
Accipiter fasciatus (Brown Goshawk)1

Consumers

Range Map

External References

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 2Terje Lislevand, Jordi Figuerola, and Tamás Székely. 2007. Avian body sizes in relation to fecundity, mating system, display behavior, and resource sharing. Ecology 88:1605
♦ 3Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 4del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
♦ 5Jetz W, Sekercioglu CH, Böhning-Gaese K (2008) The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space PLoS Biol 6(12): e303. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060303
♦ 6Buechley ER, Santangeli A, Girardello M, et al. Global raptor research and conservation priorities: Tropical raptors fall prey to knowledge gaps. Divers Distrib. 2019;25:856–869. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12901
♦ 7Species Interactions of Australia Database, Atlas of Living Australia, Version ala-csv-2012-11-19
♦ 8Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0