Wakkerstroom, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa July 23, 2007. African populations are the nominate subspecies E. c. caeruleus. Howard & Moore and the IOC call this bird the Black-winged Kite reserving the name Black-shouldered Kite for E. axillaris of Australia. HBW calls these birds Common Black-shouldered Kite and Australian Black-shouldered Kite respectively. This elegant raptor was very common throughout our visit to South Africa. It has apparently benefited from the development of agriculture and planting of alien trees which provide roosting and nesting sites in areas which would otherwise be treeless. It is very similar to the White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus) of North America, and has been lumped with that species in the past. However, the Black-shouldered Kite has a much shorter tail which does not project beyond the wing-tips on perched birds. Also the White-tailed Kite has a black wrist patch on the underwing which is missing in the Black-shouldered Kite. Immatures are similar to adults, but have more yellow, less orange colored eyes. I judged this individual to be an immature based on eye color and on the fresh pale fringes to the primary tips. Canon PowerShot S3IS.