As smoke rises, kites come down
FOR thousands of years the indigenous people in Central Australia have burnt the extensive dry grasslands before the wet season renewed the vegetation.
This provided fresh growth for the kangaroos and wallabies that were an integral part of their food.
By burning small areas, it also reduced the likelihood of disastrous major fires starting by lightning.
The fires also flushed out small mammals, reptiles and large insects, and these became the prey of several species of birds, notably the black kite.
A link between the kites and grassland fires became so strongly established that, as soon as the grasslands were lit, the kites gathered to feast on the bounty.
One ornithologist reported watching kites carrying smouldering sticks apparently to setoff further fires.
Black kites were not common in southern Victoria until relatively recently, but now they have settled here in good numbers.
There are many records of them nesting locally.
Recently two Geelong birdwatchers, Craig Morley and David Tytherleigh, noticed a stubble crop being burnt near Inverleigh. To their delight, they found 25 black kites and eight black falcons there drawn to the smoke.
Since the kites were locally raised birds, this attraction to smoke and fire is not something they have learnt from experience.
Whether they found much to feed on was not recorded, but at most is would be some mice, rabbits perhaps, as well as grasshoppers and crickets.
Black kites are not really active hunters, rather they seem to prefer to scavenge, particularly on roadkills.
The long, forked tail makes them easily identified in flight. Wildlife information and questions can be sent to ppescott@gmail.com