Whistling Kite juvenile

The distinctive and beautiful call of the Whistling Kite is in my opinion evocative of many Australian landscapes where water is present. A pair nested at home and raised a single young which unlike its parents was neat and tidy - adult Whistling Kites from my experience are often rather scruffy looking.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

Juvenile Whistling Kite in Gippsland Grey Box at Sarsfield in East Gippsland – note the distinctive juvenile spots which in a couple of the photos are mirrored by the spots of backlight filtering through the tree canopy.

It was interesting to follow the fledgling which hung around for a couple of months after leaving the nest and before dispersing beyond our district. The young bird demonstrated that the distinctive call had to be learnt or at least practised to achieve perfection. At first its calling was incomplete, however over a couple of months the call became the one I know and love.