The black- kite is the most common diurnal raptor in Hong Kong. It is classified as “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and it is widely distributed with a breeding range that spans from Australia to Spain and Morocco and extending north to Mongolia and Russia, migrating over the Eurasian range and wintering in the sub-Saharan regions. Resident populations can be found in South-East Asia (including Hong Kong), Eastern Asia and, to the south, in Oceania (Australia and Papua) where passages are also seen, indicating that part of the population is also migratory.
Black kites often soar in the sky in urban areas; indeed, Victoria Harbour and Kowloon Bay are the regions of Hong Kong where their congregations are most dense. They are carnivorous and mainly feed on fish, reptiles, birds and small mammals. They are also scavengers, feeding on dead fish floating on the water surface (Fulton and Cheung, 2017) (IUCN, 2022).
For consistency and comparative purposes the period of post-release survival whereby the kites were considered to have successfully adapted to the wild conditions, indicated by feeding success and undertaking of other normal wild behaviour, was taken as 42 days following Duke et al (1981).
