Birdwatching - 1707 🐦

🦉 The black kite (Milvus migrans)

📚 Milvus (lat) - kite
📚 migrans (lat.) - migrating

Recently I learned that these birds are literally called "shit hawks".

Shite-hawk (also spelled shitehawk) or shit-hawk or shitty hawk[1] is a slang name applied to various birds of prey that exhibit scavenging behaviour, originally and primarily the black kite, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shite-hawk

And you know, this is not far from the truth. I see kites flying over yards all the time, and they're especially interested in dumpsters. There they find fish offal, bones, leftover food, and even banana skins and potato peels they grab and eat on the fly.

However, these birds can forage and prey on live food. On the river, they often fish, come down and grab fish from the water. In the forests, they can catch squirrels or chipmunks. But for the most part, yes, they are scavengers. They especially love pigeons crushed by cars.