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Species › Birds

Black Kite

Milvus migrans

Order
Accipitriformes
Family
Accipitridae
Presence in the Strait
Seasonal
Abundance
rare
Protection in Spain
Special protection (List)
In Spanish
Milano negro

32% of its open observations in the area are from August.

Photograph: Valentina Eggler, CC0, vía iNaturalist

Length
55–60 cm
Wingspan
135–155 cm
Weight
780–850 g
050100150LENGTH55–60 cmWINGSPAN135–155 cmcentimetres

Presence in the Strait

Rare summer visitor to forests (5-6 pairs) and abundant during migration (>100,000 post. migr.).

Identification

Dark brown upperparts, grey head and rufous underparts. In flight, can appear all black. Tail is less forked than a Red Kite’s. Often seen at rubbish dumps and near roads, searching for carrion.

Movements

Migration with peaks in March and 1 hf. August.

Ring recoveries

Spain (17), Switzerland (13), France (2) and Germany (1). st

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Gallery

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.