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The White-Tailed Kites page contains 48 portraits, flight shots and behavioral images of this
elegant raptor taken at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge and Ballona Creek in Southern California.
Click an image to open a larger version.
Use your back button to return to this page.
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Raptor Section Index
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Raptors Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Eagles Red-Tailed Hawks Assorted Hawks
Owl and Harrier Falcons & Kites Osprey
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White-Tailed Kite 6902c
An Adult male White-Tailed Kite atop a branch at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
White-Tailed Kites are in the same family as Hawks, Eagles and Harriers (Accipitridae).
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White-Tailed Kite Dawn Flight X2919
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White-Tailed Kite Morning Flight HS2917
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White-Tailed Kites in flight at early and mid-morning in winter, taken at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
White-Tailed Kites are small birds of prey which were nearly hunted to extinction in North America by
farmers who thought they threatened chickens, although Kites mostly eat rodents, lizards and insects.
They have made a comeback in California and Texas, although they are rare outside of a few areas.
Mature birds are mostly white, with dark gray wingtips and shoulders. Juveniles have a russet-brown
collar and streaks on their breast. They typically patrol over marshes, scrub and grasslands looking
for rodents, and can often be seen hovering over an area when they see something of interest.
White-Tailed Kite X3031
A White-Tailed Kite at the end of a hovering hunting sequence, prior to leaving the area.
White-Tailed Kites dangle their feet in flight while hunting, although they retract them for level flight.
While hunting, they exhibit a graceful, buoyant hovering flight. The toy kite was named for these birds.
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White-Tailed Kite X3035
A White-Tailed Kite leaving the area in level flight at the end of an unsuccessful hunting sequence.
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White-Tailed Kite Morning Flight X3051
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White-Tailed Kite Morning Flight X3055
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A White-Tailed Kite in flight, mid-morning at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
White-Tailed Kite Hovering
A White-Tailed Kite hovering over a field at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge, searching for prey.
White-Tailed Kites prefer grasslands, marshes, lightly wooded scrub and other open land.
They primarily eat mice and other rodents, but occasionally take a bird, reptile or amphibian.
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White-Tailed Kite Hovering Sequence SXL
A 1500 x 1190 preview of the SXL composite (3610 x 2769) showing a hovering flight sequence.
White-Tailed Kites dangle their feet in flight while hunting, although they retract them for level flight.
When hunting, White-Tailed Kites soar, flap and hover over an area, then dive down on their prey.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Raptors Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Eagles Red-Tailed Hawks Assorted Hawks
Owl and Harrier Falcons & Kites Osprey
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White-Tailed Kite Evening Flight HS6130
A White-Tailed Kite checks out the long black beak on my camera in the early evening at Ballona Creek.
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White-Tailed Kite Evening Flight HS6136
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White-Tailed Kite Evening Flight HS6138
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The Kite turns to stay away, keeping an eye on the photographer the entire time.
White-Tailed Kite Evening Flight HS6142
A White-Tailed Kite in a level fly-by, taken in the early evening at Ballona Creek.
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White-Tailed Kite Evening Flight HS6156
Having thoroughly examined the strange creature, the Kite leaves the area, still keeping watch.
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White-Tailed Kite Pointillism X3077
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White-Tailed Kite Pointillism X3080
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Taken during a day which was spent experimenting with soft-focus techniques, a White-Tailed Kite flies past a
colorful stand of trees in late November at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge. Slightly defocusing the Kite and radically
defocusing the background foliage creates an Impressionist effect similar to that of Monet and Renoir paintings.
White-Tailed Kite Pointillism X3079
Pointillism is an artistic painting technique which was developed as an offshoot of Impressionism in
the late 1880s by Seurat and Signac, and was also used by van Gogh and Pissarro. Small dots of color
are applied to the canvas in patterns to form an image, similar to the way that computer printers, televisions
and monitors create color from dots of ink or pixels (and incidentally the way that digital images are created).
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Raptors Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Eagles Red-Tailed Hawks Assorted Hawks
Owl and Harrier Falcons & Kites Osprey
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White-Tailed Kite Ethereal Landing X2902 M
Taken early in the morning on the same day spent experimenting with soft-focus techniques,
a White-Tailed Kite drops in for a landing near its mate in a bush at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
The exposure in this image was pushed up 1.3 stops in-camera, yielding a very slow shutter speed
(1/90 second at f/5.6, 700mm), accentuating movement of the wings and adding to the ethereal effect.
All of the landscape (horizontal) large version images linked from the thumbnails are 1500 pixels wide.
Portrait (vertical) images are 1200 pixels tall (1290 pixels with title bar). Images designated with an “M”
in the shot number are 5:4 aspect ratio, 1500 x 1290 with a title bar, or 1500 x 1200 without a title bar.
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White-Tailed Kites Ethereal Fly-by X3014 M
The female in this pair of White-Tailed Kites seems to enjoy harassing the male with close, hovering
fly-bys. Other incidents were captured later in the day and six weeks later (both sequences are shown
further down this page). The images in this series were underexposed one stop to yield a higher shutter
speed (1/640 sec., f/5.6, 700mm) to stop the motion of the wings, creating a different look for the images.
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White-Tailed Kites Ethereal Fly-by X3015
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White-Tailed Kites Ethereal Fly-by X3016
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A female White-Tailed Kite harasses her mate in a close, hovering fly-by at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
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White-Tailed Kites Ethereal Fly-by X3018
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White-Tailed Kites Ethereal Fly-by X3019
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The male seems used to this behavior, but as can be seen in the final image in the sequence
in the composite image below, he does scream at his mate just as she comes in for a landing.
White-Tailed Kites Ethereal Fly-by SXL
A 1500 x 1325 version of the SXL Composite image of a female White-Tailed Kite
harassing her mate in a fly-by taken early in the morning using a soft-focus technique.
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White-Tailed Kite Impressionism X3214 M
A White-Tailed Kite perches on a shaded bush at mid-day.
This image was also taken during the experiments with soft-focus techniques.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Raptors Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Eagles Red-Tailed Hawks Assorted Hawks
Owl and Harrier Falcons & Kites Osprey
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White-Tailed Kites X2820 M
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White-Tailed Kites X2821 M
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The same mated pair of Kites perched in a tree, taken at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge three days earlier at mid-day.
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White-Tailed Kites Bush Confrontation X3106 M
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White-Tailed Kites Bush Confrontation X3107 M
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The female White-Tailed Kite approaches the male for another confrontation while perched in a bush,
but this time the male wants to have nothing to do with it and immediately takes off as the female flies by.
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White-Tailed Kites Bush Takeoff X3109 M
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White-Tailed Kites Bush Takeoff X3111 M
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Note the wing position on the male in the left image, with the wings fully extended forward and out.
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White-Tailed Kite Bush Landing X3117 M
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White-Tailed Kite Bush Landing X3118 M
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The male Kite later returns to his perch in the bush after the female has left.
White-Tailed Kite Female HS6905
A portrait of the female White-Tailed Kite perched on a branch after another harassing fly-by,
taken at Sepulveda six weeks later in the late afternoon. The fly-by sequence is shown below.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Raptors Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Eagles Red-Tailed Hawks Assorted Hawks
Owl and Harrier Falcons & Kites Osprey
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White-Tailed Kite Male HS6831 M
The male White-Tailed Kite perched on a branch at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in the late afternoon.
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White-Tailed Kite Male HS6865c
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White-Tailed Kite Male HS6869c
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The poor unsuspecting male is simply minding his business atop his branch,
keeping an eye on the photographer while he is enjoying the late afternoon sun.
White-Tailed Kite Male HS6875c
The male turns his head for a classic Raptor twisted portrait.
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White-Tailed Kite Male HS6880 M
Note the extreme flexibility of the neck shown in these portraits of a male White-Tailed Kite.
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White-Tailed Kite Fly-by HS6885 M
Not one to waste a perfect opportunity, the female approaches for a hovering fly-by.
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White-Tailed Kite Fly-by HS6887 M
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White-Tailed Kite Fly-by HS6888 M
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The female hangs over the males left shoulder, exhibiting her flying skill.
White-Tailed Kite Fly-by HS6888c
A detail crop of the image above right, depicting a female White-Tailed Kite during
a harassing fly-by of her mate late on a January afternoon at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.
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White-Tailed Kite Fly-by HS6889c
The male screams at the female as she hovers alongside...
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White-Tailed Kite Fly-by HS6890 M
... and the female flies away to perch on a nearby branch (shown in image 6905 further above).
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White-Tailed Kite Male HS6899c
The male looks at the photographer as if to say:
“Can you believe what I have to put up with? She does this all the time...”
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White-Tailed Kite Hovering Fly-by XXL
A 1500 x 1075 version of the XXL Composite image (5923 x 4072) showing a female White-Tailed Kite
harassing her mate in a fly-by taken late in the afternoon, composed of six square aspect-ratio images.
There is also an SXL version available (4005 x 3530) which shows the four corner images.
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White-Tailed Kite Hovering Fly-by SXXL
A 1600 x 930 version of the SXXL Composite (7402 x 4072) showing a female White-Tailed Kite
harassing her mate in a fly-by taken late in the afternoon, composed of six 5:4 aspect-ratio images.
You will notice that a different selection of images was used to create this composite.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Raptors Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links:
Eagles Red-Tailed Hawks Assorted Hawks
Owl and Harrier Falcons & Kites Osprey
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Click the Display Composite above to return to the Raptors Index
(or use the navigation bars below to select another section or page)
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