ML280019881

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

At first sight the bird was called as Whistling Kite but we immediately started to have doubts as the jizz didn't seem right. The bird glided on flat wings - we never once saw the characteristic bent 'M' wing glide of a WK. Also, it glided purposefully without the light-in-the-air rocking movement often seen with WK. As well, the tail seemed too short and square for WK and the underwing pattern was cryptic, although on viewing the photos at home these features don't seem so pronounced as they did in the field. We felt both juvenile Brahminy Kite and Little Eagle, while both less common at the location than WK, were possibilities. On return the attached photo was posted to FB ABID page and had 3x positive ID as WK with one adding: "Both Brahminy and Little Eagle only have black tips to the primaries. Juv Brahminy also has darker terminal band in the tail - and Little E has a (shorter) barred tail. 100% Whistling Kite." No feedback from Cairns Birders.

Technical information

Model

NIKON D7500

ISO

2200

Focal length

300 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/32.0

Shutter speed

1/500 sec

Dimensions

1925 pixels x 1080 pixels

Original file size

825.93 KB