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Whistling Kite at Myall Lakes
This weekend I took a walk from Mungo Brush Campground to the Tamboi picnic area at Myall Lakes. A bird of prey was calling and swooping far away on the opposite side of the wide, serene Myall River. After a bit of research, considering the appearance of the bird and the sound of its call, my conclusion is that it’s a Whistling Kite.
The pictures aren’t great, because the bird was far away. This one shows its head and body:
The next picture gives a better idea of its tail:
I did take some shots of the bird in flight, but they’re too fuzzy to be of much use. Still, you can see them on my Reddit post if you’re interested.
Whistling Kites are large birds of prey, found throughout most of Australia. They’re also called whistling eagles or whistling hawks. I’ve seen one before, on the Bogan River in western New South Wales, and another on Magnetic Island in Queensland.
Common name: Whistling Kite
Scientific name: Haliastur sphenurus
Approximate length: 50-60 cm; wing span 1.2-1.5 m
Date spotted: 20 October 2024 (spring)
Location: Myall Lakes National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 32°33’03.8″S 152°17’10.5″E
Whistling Kite on the Bogan River
Early one morning, on the banks of the Bogan River at Nyngan, I watched this raptor calling and flying. I was in the area, at the start of a trip heading west from Sydney into the Australian Outback.
In this video, the piercing call of the bird echoes across the river. The background noise in the video is mostly from the wind. It was a cold and blustery morning:
In the next shot, the bird’s head is up and its beak is opened wide, in the midst of making its call:
Nearby was the bird’s nest, a platform of loosely woven sticks:
The bird departed from and returned to its nest a couple of times while I watched:
Each time it left the nest, the bird would circle high in the sky, or swoop down over the river. There were a few other birds circling too, so I can’t be sure that this is the same bird:
I saw the bird in the evening of 17 May, and then again the next morning. All my bird photos are morning shots. The next shot shows an evening shot of the Bogan River, near where the bird had built its nest. When taking all the photographs, I was on the opposite bank of the river from the bird and its nest:
Here’s another shot of the same bird (again, a morning shot):
Common name: Whistling Kite
Scientific name: Haliastur sphenurus
Approximate length: 50-60 cm; wing span 1.2-1.5 m
Date spotted: 18 May 2024 (autumn)
Location: Nyngan Riverside Tourist Park, New South Wales, Australia: 31°33’39.1″S 147°10’45.2″E
Sydney Birder 