Black Kite

Black Kite (Milvus migrans) is a medium-sized brown raptor with long angled wings and a shallowly forked tail that is conspicuous while it circles. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is an opportunistic hunter and scavenger, spending long periods gliding on thermals while searching open country, wetlands and settlements for carrion, refuse and small live prey. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).