A nesting pair of White-tailed Kites (Elanus leucurus), just after a mouse transfer was made by the kite on the left

            Photographed at Shoreline Park, Mountain View, California, standing, no cover 

=> Please click on the image to see the largest size. <=

High winds made the normal mid-air mouse transfer problematic so the kites substituted a tree-top transfer.
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From Wikipedia: The white-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus) is a small raptor found in western North America and parts of South America.

Taxonomy:
For some recent decades, it was lumped with the black-winged kite of Europe and Africa as Elanus caeruleus and was collectively called black-shouldered kite. More recently it was argued that the white-tailed kite differed from the Old World species in size, shape, plumage, and behavior, and that these differences were sufficient to warrant full species status. This argument was accepted by the American Ornithologists' Union, so the white-tailed kite was returned to its original name. Meanwhile, the Old World E. caeruleus is once again called black-winged kite, while the name black-shouldered kite is now reserved for an Australian species, Elanus axillaris, which had also been lumped into E. caeruleus but is now regarded as separate again.

Distribution and habitat:
The white-tailed kite was rendered almost extinct in California in the 1930s and 1940s due to shooting and egg-collecting, but they are now common again. Their distribution is patchy, however. They can be found in the Central Valley and southern coastal areas, open land around Goleta including the Ellwood Mesa Open Space, marshes in Humboldt County, and also around the San Francisco Bay. Elsewhere, they are still rare or absent. They are also found in southern Texas, on the Baja California Peninsula, and in eastern Mexico. Globally, they are not considered threatened species by the IUCN. On rare occasions the bird can be found far outside its usual range. At different times, two had been sighted in New England as of 2010.

6D6A4539-2CAFlkr

Taken in: United States / California / Rincon De San Francisquito (show map)

Taken on: April 24, 2020

Tags:

White-tailed Kites

Elanus leucurus

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Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, f/18.0, 1/1000 sec, 700mm, ISO 800 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Aperture:	f/18.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/1000)
Focal Length:	700mm
ISO:	800
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	GraphicConverter 11 (11.1.3)
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