PAKHI DEKHOON PAKHI CHINOON ...Observe the Bird and recognize...... BLACK SHOULDERED KITE

PAKHI DEKHOON PAKHI CHINOON #604... BLACK SHOULDERED KITE... WATERCOLOUR...A4... 2015 ...[From the photograph of Mr. Suvadip Chowdhury] ...The black-shouldered kite (Elanus axillaris) or Australian black-shouldered kite is a small raptor found in open habitat throughout Australia and resembles similar species found in Africa, Eurasia and North America, which have in the past also been named as black-shouldered kites. Measuring 35–38 cm (14–15 in) in length with a wingspan of 80–95 cm (31–37 in), the adult black-shouldered kite is a small and graceful, predominantly pale grey and white, raptor with black shoulders and red eyes. Their primary call is a clear whistle, uttered in flight and while hovering.
Black-shouldered kites form monogamous pairs, breeding between August and January. The birds engage in aerial courtship displays which involve high circling flight and ritualised feeding mid-air. Three or four eggs are laid and incubated for around thirty days. Chicks are fully fledged within five weeks of hatching and can hunt for mice within a week of leaving the nest. Juveniles disperse widely from the home territory.
The black-shouldered kite was first described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1802, as Falco axillaris. Its specific name is derived from the Latin axilla, meaning "shoulder".
Black-shouldered kites live almost exclusively on mice, and have become a specialist predator of house mice, often following outbreaks of mouse plagues in rural areas. They take other suitably sized creatures when available, including grasshoppers, rats, small reptiles, birds, and even (very rarely) rabbits, but mice and other mouse-sized mammals account for over 90% of their diet.[info:wikipedia]