Black-winged Kite

Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus) is a small pale-grey and white raptor with black shoulder patches, long pointed wings and forward-facing reddish eyes. 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 hunts over grasslands and cultivated country, often hovering like a kestrel before dropping onto rodents, lizards and large insects, and also watches from exposed perches. 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).