Black-breasted Buzzards or Black-breasted Kites
Birds of Prey ... The Sport of Falconry
The Black-breasted Buzzard (Hamirostra melanosternon), or Black-breasted Kite, is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae and the monotypic genus Hamirostra. Its wingspan ranges between 440 and 500 millimeters, with females being larger than the males.
Identification
Adult birds are relatively easy to recognise by their mainly dark plumage combined with distinctive white patches on the wings at the bases of the primary feathers.
Range
The Black-Breasted Buzzard is native to Australia and found mainly in the northern and central parts of the continent, living in the deserts, dry grasslands, shrublands, sparse tropical woodlands and tree-lined watercourses. It does not occur in Tasmania.
Food
Black-Breasted Buzzards eat rabbits, large lizards, other birds and carrion. It will also raid the nests of ground-nesting birds, breaking large eggs by hurling stones against them with its large beak and then eating the contents. (see photo below).
Nesting
This species nests in trees, often along watercourses, building a platform of sticks with a central leaf-lined depression for the clutch of usually two eggs.
The incubation period is about 40 days, with chicks fledging about 60 days after hatching.
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