This Black Kite is a bird of prey, not an airfoil on a string. Walking along the fields beside the woods in the Var [map] last week, we had a close encounter with an impressive raptor.
This Black Kite was perched in the tall trees at the edge of the forest bordering the wheat fields and vineyards of the area. It would sit on a high branch, crying out over and over something like "creeeeee, cree-cree-cree", then launch itself out to circle the fields very near us, still calling out the same way as it flew.
We thought we had a great view of a bird of prey hunting for some of that prey, but a more knowledgeable friend has suggested a different motive for the bird: it was warning us away from a nearby nest.
We encountered this black kit early on, during a walk-hike along country lanes, following a tiny canal westward towards Carcès. On our return past the same place a few hours later we were again greeted by the big bird in the same fashion. This bird of prey has a wingspan of about 150 cm (5 feet), and only a few metres above us it was impressive.
Oh, yes, we've added new text and a lot of new photos to our Black Kite page in Beyond's Birds section.
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