Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Accipitriformes > Accipitridae > Elanus > Elanus axillaris

Elanus axillaris (Black-shouldered Kite)

Synonyms: Elanus notatus

Wikipedia Abstract

The black-shouldered kite (Elanus axillaris), Australian black-shouldered kite, or simply Australian kite, is a small raptor found in open habitat throughout Australia. It resembles similar species found in Africa, Eurasia and North America, including the black-winged kite, a species that has in the past also been called "black-shouldered kite". Measuring 35–38 cm (14–15 in) in length with a wingspan of 80–95 cm (31–37 in), the adult black-shouldered kite is a small and graceful raptor with red eyes. Their primary call is a clear whistle, uttered in flight and while hovering.
View Wikipedia Record: Elanus axillaris

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
8
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
32
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 16.2066
EDGE Score: 2.84529
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  271 grams
Female Weight [3]  293 grams
Male Weight [3]  249 grams
Weight Dimorphism [3]  17.7 %
Diet [2]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Carnivore (Vertebrates)
Diet - Ectothermic [2]  10 %
Diet - Endothermic [2]  80 %
Diet - Invertibrates [2]  10 %
Forages - Ground [2]  100 %
Clutch Size [5]  4
Incubation [4]  31 days
Mating Display [6]  Non-acrobatic aerial display
Mating System [6]  Monogamy
Raptor Research Conservation Priority [7]  72
Snout to Vent Length [1]  14 inches (35 cm)
Wing Span [4]  35 inches (.88 m)

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
Southwest Australia Australia No

Predators

Aquila chrysaetos (Golden Eagle)[8]

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Degeeriella elani[9]

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
♦ 2Hamish 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
♦ 3Marchant, S.; Higgins, PJ (eds.) 1993. The handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds, Vol. 2., raptors to lapwings. Oxford University Press, Melbourne
♦ 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
♦ 6Terje Lislevand, Jordi Figuerola, and Tamás Székely. 2007. Avian body sizes in relation to fecundity, mating system, display behavior, and resource sharing. Ecology 88:1605
♦ 7Buechley 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
♦ 8Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 9Species Interactions of Australia Database, Atlas of Living Australia, Version ala-csv-2012-11-19
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