Black Shouldered Kites

harlequin2902 · 24th February 2005

D70 + 2x TC + 480mm ED (TV Pronto)

joeyao · 24th February 2005

Welcome back to the bright side! Seen you at the dark side recently when I was unloading my astro stuffs to finance my new birding hobby

I gave up the dark side recently

harlequin2902 · 24th February 2005

Originally Posted by joeyao

Welcome back to the bright side! Seen you at the dark side recently when I was unloading my astro stuffs to finance my new birding hobby I gave up the dark side recently

Hi,

Hm, sad to hear that you're leaving the dark side. But you can still join us for our occasional open observing sessions in the evenings even if you don't have your own equipment. Just look through ours

Well, I can't really bear to give up on either side. I'm a person that needs both sunlight and starlight to keep me going

skfoo · 25th February 2005

The one eating is the female while the male (that actually brought back the food) looked on. Saw this interesting behaviour a couple of times.

Garion · 25th February 2005

Originally Posted by skfoo

The one eating is the female while the male (that actually brought back the food) looked on. Saw this interesting behaviour a couple of times.

Yes, seems like the male also transfers the food in midair to the female while both are still airborne (looks a bit like a talon lock from a distance). Have seen it a couple of times before.

Nice catch Sam.

harlequin2902 · 25th February 2005

Originally Posted by skfoo

The one eating is the female while the male (that actually brought back the food) looked on. Saw this interesting behaviour a couple of times.

Originally Posted by Garion

Yes, seems like the male also transfers the food in midair to the female while both are still airborne (looks a bit like a talon lock from a distance). Have seen it a couple of times before.

Nice catch Sam.

"...transfers the food in midair to the female while both are still airborne..."

Ah...pity we didn't get to see that. They must have done it while out of our field of view. Anyway the male took quite a while to fly in to join the female. I think it was busy with the pair of crows that keep disturbing them. A real pain, those fellas

Garion · 25th February 2005

Originally Posted by harlequin2902

"...transfers the food in midair to the female while both are still airborne..."

Ah...pity we didn't get to see that. They must have done it while out of our field of view. Anyway the male took quite a while to fly in to join the female. I think it was busy with the pair of crows that keep disturbing them. A real pain, those fellas

Yeah, have seen it before too, the crows must be a real PITA for the kites, keeps harassing them when they have caught fresh prey.

Somemore these buggers are quite small raptors so they also dun have size advantage. Just hope the crows will not force them out of the area.

s_wrx · 25th February 2005

hmm.. the act of transferring food via talons in the air MAY be a display of courtship... some pairs do it, some pairs don't...

yes, crows are a PITA.. especially to all kinds of raptors...

actually the BSKs are can be VERY territorial when breeding season nears... i've seen them swoop down and chase away buzzards before.. similarly, a kestrel being another PITA for a white-bellied sea eagle..

these small buggers are just so determined and persistent... really take my hats off to them..

their will for survival is just amazing...

Fred · 25th February 2005

Sorry to OT here...

I've seen BSK defending their territory against crows; a crow ends up in the talons of the BSK. These guys can be really ferocious when threaten.

Newguy69 · 25th February 2005

Nice shot of the pair.

Cheers

24th February 2005	#1
harlequin2902 Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 278	Black Shouldered Kites D70 + 2x TC + 480mm ED (TV Pronto)

25th February 2005	#10
Newguy69 Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Third rock from the Sun Posts: 1,773	Nice shot of the pair. Cheers __________________ The place where I can spread my wings, and soar the sky at dawn - I belong

24th February 2005	#2
joeyao Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 755	Welcome back to the bright side! Seen you at the dark side recently when I was unloading my astro stuffs to finance my new birding hobby I gave up the dark side recently

25th February 2005	#4
skfoo Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,187	The one eating is the female while the male (that actually brought back the food) looked on. Saw this interesting behaviour a couple of times.

25th February 2005	#8
s_wrx Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: sINgaPoRe Posts: 337	hmm.. the act of transferring food via talons in the air MAY be a display of courtship... some pairs do it, some pairs don't... yes, crows are a PITA.. especially to all kinds of raptors... actually the BSKs are can be VERY territorial when breeding season nears... i've seen them swoop down and chase away buzzards before.. similarly, a kestrel being another PITA for a white-bellied sea eagle.. these small buggers are just so determined and persistent... really take my hats off to them.. their will for survival is just amazing...

25th February 2005	#9
Fred Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,240	Sorry to OT here... I've seen BSK defending their territory against crows; a crow ends up in the talons of the BSK. These guys can be really ferocious when threaten.