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The Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris) is a small raptor found in open habitat throughout Australia. Like all the elanid kites, it is a specialist predator of rodents.

The name "Black-shouldered Kite" was formerly used for a European and African species, Elanus caeruleus, and the Australian bird (and also a North AmericaNorth America is the third largest continent in area and the fourth ranked in population. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocean species, the White-tailed KiteWhite-tailed Kite : Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Falconiformes : Accipitridae Elanus leucurus Binomial name Elanus leucurus Vieillot, 1818) The White-tailed Kite Elanus leucurus is an elanid kite found in western North America and parts of South America. Elanus leucurus) were treated as subspecies of this. However the three species are now regarded as distinct, and the name Black-winged KiteBlack-winged Kite : Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Falconiformes : Accipitridae Elanus caeruleus Binomial name Elanus caeruleus Desfontaines, 1789 The Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes is used for E. caeruleus. Modern references to the Black-shouldered Kite should therefore unambiguously mean the Australian species.

Black-Shouldered Kites are around 35 to 38 cm in length and have a wingspan of between 80 and 95 cm. Adults are a very pale grey with a white head and white underparts. The leading edge of the inner wing is black. When perched, this gives them their prominent black "shoulders".

Although reported from almost all parts of Australia, they are most common in the relatively fertile south-east and south-west corners of the mainland, and in south-east QueenslandQueensland State flag ( In detail) Coat of Arms ( In detail) Capital Brisbane Governor HE Ms Quentin Bryce Premier Peter Beattie Area — Land — Marine — Total 1 730 648 km² 121 994 km² 1 852 642 km² Population (2002) Density 3 729 000 2. 15/km² Time zone U. They are rare in the deep desert and appear to be only accidental visitors to northern TasmaniaTasmania State flag ( In detail) Coat of Arms ( Full size) Capital Hobart Governor William Cox (Acting Governor) Premier Paul Lennon Area — Land — Marine — Total 68 401 km² 22 357 km² 90 758 km² Population(Sep 2003) Density 478 400 6. 92/km² Time zone UTC and the Torres StraitThe Torres Strait is the body of water which lies between Australia and Papua New Guinea. It is approximately 150km wide. To the south is Cape York, the northernmost extremity of the Australian state of Queensland. To the north is the Western Province of islands. Although found in timbered country, they are mainly birds of the grasslands. European occupation of Australia has, on the whole, benefited them by clearing vast expanses of forest for agriculture and providing suitable conditions for much larger numbers of mice.

Black-shouldered Kites live almost exclusively on mice. They take other suitably-sized creatures when available, including grasshoppers, rats, small reptiles, birds, and even (very rarely) rabbits, but mice and other mouse-sized mammals account for over 90% of their diet. Their influence on mouse populations is probably significant: adults take two or three mice a day each if they can, and on one occasion a male was observed bringing no less than 14 mice to a nest of well-advanced fledglings within an hour.

Like other elanid kites, Black-shouldered Kites hunt by quartering grasslands for small creatures. This can be from a perch (usually a dead tree, as illustrated above), but more often by hovering in mid-air with conspicuous skill and little apparent effort. Typically, a kite will hover 10 to 30 metres above a particular spot, peering down intently, sometimes for only a few seconds, often for a minute or more, then glide swiftly to a new vantage point and hover again.

When a mouse is spotted, the kite drops silently onto it, feet-first with wings raised high; sometimes in one long drop to ground level, more often in two or more stages, with hovering pauses at intermediate heights. About two-thirds of attacks are successful. Prey can be eaten in flight or carried back to a perch.