Black Kites – Deffi Park

On the 27 October 2017, I saw five Black Kites in the very early morning perched in the trees and flying around Deffi Park in Jubail. I have not seen the species at this site before and five is a high number for the Eastern Province. Compare this to the hundreds seen in Tabuk in the northwest of the Kingdom recently and you can see how relatively poor for migrating raptors the Eastern Province is. Black Kites are normally seen singly in our area, although I have seen 15 together once only in the summer on Abu Ali Island, a site near to Deffi Park. As normal at least one of these birds showed signs of being a Black-eared Kite but this is yet to be proved conclusively.

Black-eared/Black Kites - Tabuk

Whilst birding the pivot irrigation fields near Tabuk in early October we found hundreds of Black Kites. Many birds will be on passage at this time of year but many more will saty throughout the winter. Some birds looked like typical Black Kites and others like the very similar subspecies Black-eared Kite. The Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey that is a widespread species throughout the temperate and tropical parts of Eurasia and parts of Australasia. The two sub-species, European Black Kite & Black-eared Kite are uncommon to rare migrants, mainly in the spring, and winter visitors to Saudi Arabia. European Black Kite Milvus migrans migrans - Breeds Central, Southern and Eastern Europe to Tien Shan and south to NW Pakistan. Winters in sub-Saharan Africa. Black-eared Kite Milvus migrans lineatus - Siberia to Amurland South around Himalaya to Iran, Northern India, Northern Indochina and Southern China; Japan. Northern inland birds migrate to East Persian Gulf coast and South Asia in winter. Recent DNA studies (Jeff A. Johnson, Richard T. Watson and David P. Mindell (2005) Prioritising species conservation: does the Cape Verde kite exist? Proc. R. Soc. B 272:1365–1371) suggests that the Black-eared Kite (M. m. lineatus), is not sufficiently distinctive to justify specific status. As molecular information is much more reliable in this species than in the Red Kite, the Black-eared Kite should be regarded a distinct allopatric subspecies. Another reason why lineatus and migrans are probably distinct sub-species is there is a large interbreeding zone in Central Asia, Siberia & Mongolia. These intergrades may well also occur in Saudi Arabia and as a result the Black Kite situation in Saudi Arabia is very complicated and many birds are often best left as unidentified to sub-species level.

Black-eared Kite at Khafrah Marsh – Record by Arnold Uy

Whilst birding at Khafrah Marsh Arnold Uy found three juvenile Black Kite in the trees and in flight. Arnold said the birds were not afraid and flew right over his car where he managed to take a number of excellent photos that he has kindly allowed me to use on my website and which are shown below. The Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey that is a widespread species throughout the temperate and tropical parts of Eurasia and parts of Australasia with two sub-species, European Black Kite & Black-eared Kite being uncommon to rare migrants and rare winter visitors to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Black-eared Kite M. m. lineatus not sufficiently distinctive to justify specific status and there is a large interbreeding zone between these two sub-species in Central Asia, Siberia & Mongolia and these intergrades may well occur in Saudi Arabia. These bird appears to be a Black-eared Kite type due to the pale vent, well streaked under-parts excepting vent and prominently marked primaries with larger white under-wing patch. Black-eared Kites have only been sub-specifically identified in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia since 2012 and all records are from the Jubail area from June onwards so these birds fit the pattern well.

Black-eared Kite - Sabkhat Al Fasl

Whilst birding at Sabkhat Al Fasl I found a juvenile Black Kite sitting on the mud on one of the dry concrete settling pools. The bird never allowed close approach and soon flew off into the reedy area. I later saw the same bird in flight in a similar area where it circled up into the sky and few off inland. The Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey that is a widespread species throughout the temperate and tropical parts of Eurasia and parts of Australasia with two sub-species, European Black Kite & Black-eared Kite being uncommon to rare migrants and rare winter visitors to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Black-eared Kite M. m. lineatus not sufficiently distinctive to justify specific status and there is a large interbreeding zone between these two sub-species in Central Asia, Siberia & Mongolia and these intergrades may well occur in Saudi Arabia. This bird appears to be a Black-eared Kite type due to the pale vent, well streaked under-parts excepting vent and prominently marked primaries with larger white under-wing patch. Black-eared Kites have only been sub-specifically identified in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia this year and all records are from the Jubail area from June onwards.

 

Black-eared Kite (Jubail) – Bird records by Tim Pinkston

Tim Pinkston took the following photographs of two Black-eared Kites on 13^th July 2012 in the Murjan Compound in Jubail Industrial City. The two birds circled the compound for the better part of the day but have not been seen subsequently. These records match nicely with the group of 15 birds I saw on Abu Ali Island on 22^nd June that I never saw again. Tim has kindly given me permission to use his photos on my website and these records help build a better understanding of the Sub-species occurrence in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, where the records mentioned above appear to be the first ones for the region.

Black eared Kites – Abu Ali Island (Jubail)

Whilst birding on Abu Ali Island on 22^nd June I located six Black Kites Milvus migrans sitting on a telegraph pole near to the road. I stopped the car and took a couple of photographs of the birds as they looked a little different. After watching the birds closely I finally ended up with a total of 15 birds in the area. The Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey that is a widespread species throughout the temperate and tropical parts of Eurasia and parts of Australasia. European Black Kite M. m. migrans and Black-eared Kite M. m. lineatus from central Asia are migratory, moving to the tropics in winter, but races in warmer regions such as the Indian M. m. govinda (Pariah Kite) are resident. The two sub-species, European Black Kite & Black-eared Kite are uncommon to rare migrants, mainly in the spring, and winter visitors to Saudi Arabia. The recently split Yellow-billed Kite M. aegyptius also occurs in Saudi Arabia but is restricted to South-west Saudi Arabia where it is a resident breeder in small numbers. Yellow-billed Kite has an obvious yellow beak, deeper tail fork and more rufous under-parts and has been split into a separate species due to recent DNA studies suggesting that the Yellow-billed African races parasitus and aegyptius differ significantly from Black Kites in the Eurasian clade and should be considered as a separate, allopatric species Yellow-billed Kite, M. aegyptius (Jeff A. Johnson, Richard T. Watson and David P. Mindell (2005) Prioritising species conservation: does the Cape Verde kite exist? Proc. R. Soc. B 272:1365–1371). They occur throughout Africa except for the Congo basin and the Sahara Desert. The same study suggests that the Black-eared Kite (M. m. lineatus), is not sufficiently distinctive to justify specific status. As molecular information is much more reliable in this species than in the Red Kite, the Black-eared Kite should be regarded a distinct allopatric subspecies. Another reason why lineatus and migrans are probably distinct sub-species is there is a large interbreeding zone in Central Asia, Siberia & Mongolia. These intergrades may well also occur in Saudi Arabia and as a result the Black Kite situation in Saudi Arabia is very complicated and many birds are often best left as unidentified to sub-species level. I have posted this late as I was trying to make certain what sub species these birds were and most things point to them being Black-eared Kite which has not been recorded previously in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. I returned to the site the following two weekends but failed to find any Black Kites in the area dispite searching for almost the entire day on both occasions.

Subspecies

Milvus migrans migrans (Boddaert, 1783): European Black Kite - Breeds Central, Southern and Eastern Europe to Tien Shan and south to NW Pakistan. Winters in sub-Saharan Africa.
Milvus migrans lineatus (J. E. Gray, 1831): Black-eared Kite - Siberia to Amurland South around Himalaya to Iran, Northern India, Northern Indochina and Southern China; Japan. Northern inland birds migrate to East Persian Gulf coast and South Asia in winter.
Milvus migrans govinda (Sykes, 1832): Pariah Kite - E Pakistan through tropical India and Sri Lanka to Indochina and Malaysian Peninsula. Resident.
Milvus migrans affinis (Gould, 1838): Fork-tailed Kite - Sulawesi and possibly Lesser Sunda Islands; Papua New Guinea except mountains; NE and E Australia.
Milvus migrans formosanus (Kuroda, 1920): Taiwan Kite - Taiwan and Hainan; resident.

Features of these birds suggest Black-eared Kite Milvus (migrans) lineatus rather than nominate Black Kite Milvus migrans such as the bluish grey feet and bill base, which would be yellow in Black Kite. These birds appear to be Black-eared Kites although intergrades cannot be entirely ruled out at present. Some pointers to identification of Black-eared Kite include a wider white area on the base of the primaries "hand"; longer P5 and P6, which are also narrower & more pointed; narrower & more numerous tail bars; a darker head and breast band, contrasting with the rest of under-parts, instead of paler head, with a juvenile Eastern Imperial Eagle like look seen on Black Kite; rustier, even reddish tones to the under-wing coverts, not buff or creamy as in Black Kite; broader pale tips to underbody feathers; bluish bare parts rather than yellowish in Black Kite.