#haliastur

[best-bird-tournament]

Genus Haliastur kites

Which is the best bird?

Whistling kite

Brahminy kite

Voting ended onSep 17, 2025

*due to a miscount, the genera of tribe Milvini were originally planned to be combined, but we'll run genus-level rounds with no runoffs/tiebreakers to narrow it down first!

[birdblues]

Brahminy Kite

[birdblues]

Brahminy Kite & Black-headed Ibis

[thebeastsofindia]

Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus), family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes, Sindh, Pakistan

Photo by Rashid Asgher

[thebeastsofindia]

Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus), family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes, Karnataka, India

Photo by Rahul Bhandari

[thebeastsofindia]

Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus), family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes, Kerala, India

Photo by Afsar Nayakkan

[drhoz]

#3433 - Haliastur sphenurus - Whistling Kite

A pair of these birds has been nesting in the top of this tree, on the tallest hill in Lakelands, for months now. Their distinctive screaming is a common sound whenever I'm working in the area. I am, however, AMAZED that the iNaturalist algorithm recognised the species from this terrible photo.

A medium-sized raptor found across Australia, New Caledonia, and much of Papua. Most often seen singly or in pairs, but may gather in large numbers if food is plentiful. The diet is broad, although in Papua they most often feed on carrion. They also mug ibises and herons, other raptors, and force large waterbirds to regurgitate their catches. A common site along highways, searching for roadkill, and known to spread wildfires by dropping burning sticks into grass and undergrowth to flush out small animals.

Lakelands, Perth.