12/3/2023 0 Comments Brahminy kite falconerI don’t know the full story of the good samaritan who rescued this bird but whoever they are they did an amazing job, and Mandy did her usual great work in rehabilitating the bird. Not many roosting spots for a fledgling raptor There is little margin for error undertaking first flight from this nest and the terrifying outcome was a drop into the ocean beneath. The practice flight that a juvenile raptor can experience in a tree was not a luxury available to this juvenile Brahminy, as a dearth of roosting spots occur near the light pole. I have observed many juvenile raptors taking short flights from one branch to another in their nest tree, in bursts barely longer than 10 meters better described as launching with flapping wings rather than ‘flight’. The first flights of a fledgling bird are inevitably a clumsy affair and can sometime occur accidentally during ‘play’. The juvenile attempts to get a comfortable roosting position I suspect a few unfortunate juveniles from this nest have experienced such a fate. I knew that this individual must have fallen from the light pole nest, and had it not been rescued would almost certainly have suffered a horrific death. Juvenile Brahminy Kites have similar plumage to Whistling Kites and are commonly confused (it’s ok Mandy). The photo showed a bird with a dark horizontal line across the eye and strongly hooked bill, indicating the bird as a juvenile Brahminy Kite. Mandy messaged me one day with news of a young ‘Whistling Kite’ rescued from the ocean close to Stokes Hill Wharf. A message from Darwin wildlife vet-nurse Mandy Hall was to reveal a more likely reason. Perhaps fledged juveniles from this particular nest moved quickly to newer territories. I have never sighted a juvenile Brahminy Kite around Stokes Hill Wharf or the Darwin Waterfront area, even after I discovered the light pole nest in 2017 and kept a closer eye on the area. Once juvenile Brahminy’s are out of the nest they quickly become competent flyers, so if I missed the initial fledging period it would often take some time and patience to determine that a fledgling had left the nest. Over two seasons in Darwin breeding success was relatively high, with 17 out of 21 (81%) of active nests resulting in a fledged juvenile. The high portion of reptiles is due to 233 out of 394 prey items being the Swamplands Lashtail ( Gowidon temporalis), and probably reflects the availability of these lizards rather than dietary preference. My study on the species found diet (prey items) to consist of 61.7% reptiles, 8.6% birds, 8.6% crustaceans, 6.9% fish, 5.6% amphibians, 4.8% mammals and 3.8% insects. Like the other kites the Brahminy supplements its diet by scavenging, with dead and dying fish and crustaceans plucked from the intertidal zone, as well as meat cuts from urban refuse areas (I once observed an individual clutching a fried chicken drumstick). Effortlessly gliding above the treetops making a soothing ‘pe-ah-ah’ call, their spectacular chestnut and white plumage making them a more eye-catching sight than their duller-looking relatives, the Black and Whistling Kites ( Milvus migrans and Haliastur sphenurus). The Brahminy Kite is a pleasantly common sight throughout along the Top End coast, as well as the Darwin suburbs. I had known Brahminy Kites to frequent this area but it wasn’t until I went walking along the waterfront one evening that I finally located the nesting location for this pair. I had managed to overlook one nesting site, largely because it didn’t occur in a tree, rather a man-made light pole located close to Stokes Hill Wharf. These regal birds used a variety of nest trees around Darwin, including African Mahoganies ( Khaya senegalensis), Pornupan Mangrove ( Sonneratia alba), Poinciana ( Delonix regia) Coastal She-oak ( Casuarina equisetifolia), Raintree ( Samanea saman) and Milkwood ( Alstonia actinophyla). Whilst studying Brahminy Kites during 2015 – 2016 in Darwin I managed to find a total of 13 breeding territories.
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