Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus) - BirdLife species factsheet

Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: #http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of _the_WP15.xls#.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2019	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2013	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Distribution

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km²)	132,000,000
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population and trend

	Value	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Number of mature individuals		poor	estimated	2009
Population trend	stable		suspected	-
Generation length (years)	6.6	-	-	-

Population justification: This species is one of the commonest birds of prey throughout its wide range (Kemp et al. 2015). The European population is estimated at 1,100-2,600 pairs, which equates to 2,200-5,300 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015).

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats. The small European population is estimated to be increasing (BirdLife International 2015).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding	Non-breeding
Afghanistan	extant	vagrant			yes
Algeria	extant	native	yes
Angola	extant	native	yes
Austria	extant	vagrant			yes
Bangladesh	extant	native		yes
Belgium	extant	vagrant			yes
Benin	extant	native	yes
Botswana	extant	native	yes
Brunei	extant	vagrant			yes
Bulgaria	extant	vagrant			yes
Burkina Faso	extant	native	yes
Burundi	extant	native	yes
Cambodia	extant	native		yes
Cameroon	extant	native	yes
Central African Republic	extant	native	yes
Chad	extant	native	yes
China (mainland)	extant	native		yes
Congo	extant	native	yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native	yes
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native	yes
Czechia	extant	vagrant			yes
Denmark	extant	vagrant			yes
Djibouti	extant	vagrant			yes
Egypt	extant	native	yes
Equatorial Guinea	extant	native	yes
Eritrea	extant	native	yes
Eswatini	extant	native	yes
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
France	extant	native		yes
Gabon	extant	native	yes
Gambia	extant	native	yes
Germany	extant	vagrant			yes
Ghana	extant	native	yes
Gibraltar (to UK)	extant	vagrant			yes
Greece	extant	vagrant			yes
Guinea	extant	native	yes
Guinea-Bissau	extant	native	yes
Hong Kong (China)	extant	vagrant			yes
India	extant	native		yes
Indonesia	extant	native		yes
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native			yes
Iraq	extant	native	yes
Israel	extant	vagrant			yes
Italy	extant	vagrant			yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Kuwait	extant	vagrant			yes
Laos	extant	native		yes
Lebanon	extant	vagrant			yes
Lesotho	extant	native	yes
Liberia	extant	native	yes
Libya	extant	native	yes
Madagascar	extant	vagrant			yes
Malawi	extant	native	yes
Malaysia	extant	native		yes
Mali	extant	native	yes
Mauritania	extant	native	yes
Morocco	extant	native	yes
Mozambique	extant	native	yes
Myanmar	extant	native		yes
Namibia	extant	native	yes
Nepal	extant	native		yes
Netherlands	extant	vagrant			yes
Niger	extant	native	yes
Nigeria	extant	native	yes
Oman	extant	vagrant			yes
Pakistan	extant	native		yes
Papua New Guinea	extant	native		yes
Philippines	extant	native		yes
Poland	extant	vagrant			yes
Portugal	extant	native	yes
Qatar	extant	vagrant
Romania	extant	vagrant			yes
Rwanda	extant	native	yes
Saudi Arabia	extant	native			yes
Senegal	extant	native	yes
Sierra Leone	extant	native	yes
Singapore	extant	native		yes
Somalia	extant	native	yes
South Africa	extant	native	yes
South Sudan	extant	native	yes
Spain	extant	native	yes
Sri Lanka	extant	native		yes
Sudan	extant	native
Switzerland	extant	vagrant			yes
Syria	extant	vagrant			yes
Tanzania	extant	native	yes
Thailand	extant	native		yes
Timor-Leste	extant	native	yes
Togo	extant	native	yes
Tunisia	extant	native	yes
Türkiye	extant	vagrant			yes
Uganda	extant	native	yes
United Arab Emirates	extant	vagrant			yes
Uzbekistan	extant	vagrant			yes
Vietnam	extant	native		yes
Yemen	extant	native	yes
Zambia	extant	native	yes
Zimbabwe	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Portugal	Évora plains
Portugal	Mourão, Moura e Barrancos
Portugal	Monforte plains
Portugal	Tejo estuary
Portugal	Castro Verde plains
Portugal	Cabeção
Yemen	Al-Kadan area
Portugal	Serra de Penha Garcia e Campina de Toulões
Portugal	Upper River Tejo
Portugal	Cabrela
Portugal	Arraiolos
Portugal	Albufeira do Caia
Portugal	River Guadiana
Portugal	Vila Fernando
Spain	Tietar valley
Spain	Alcudia valley and mountain range
Spain	Olivenza-La Albuera
Spain	Pela mountain range-Orellana reservoir-Zorita
Spain	Lácara-Morante
Spain	Trujillo-Torrecillas de la Tiesa
Spain	Monfragüe
Spain	Campo Arañuelo-Valdecañas reservoir

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest	suitable	resident
Desert	Hot	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 3000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threats & impact

Threat (level 1)

Threat (level 2)

Impact and Stresses

Biological resource use

Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Minority (<50%)

Negligible declines

Low Impact: 4

Stresses
Species mortality

Pollution

Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides