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Square-tailed Kite (Lophoictinia isura) Aboriginal name(s): "mararl", "djedurnmalak" (WA) Size: 50-55 cm; wing span 1.3-1.45 m Body mass: 500-680 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.19 (male), 0.21 (female)

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Square-tailed Kites are medium-sized raptors with a grey and rufous-brown overall appearance. The front (breast, belly and vent) and the nape of the neck are rufous-brown, the wings are dark-brown with grey-brown edge-lining. The face is greyish-white, with pale eyes and a dark-grey bill. The legs and feet are grey. The underwings have rufous-brown coverts, forming a "T" with the body. The rest of the underwings is light-grey, with darker grey lining on the trailing edge and barring on the primaries. The undertail has a sub-terminal dark-grey band. Some Square-tailed Kites can have a much greyer appearance, with little of the typical rufous-brown front.

Taxonomy, classification See Square-tailed Kite at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Square-tailed Kite is available HERE . Square-tailed Kites are endemic to Australia. The range of Square-tailed Kites is somewhat patchy. They are generally rare and therefore hard to spot systematically in a certain location. Their range basically includes the eastern half of the Australian continent plus the tropical North and most of the NT, plus the western half of WA and the Kimberley. They are not found in Tasmania, the eastern half of WA and most of SA. Square-tailed Kites hunt predominantly in open woodland, such as e.g. farmland with scattered trees, but also along watercourses. Where to look? How to find this species? Square-tailed Kites have been seen by us circling above (inland) townships a number of times. Otherwise their behaviour is hard to predict.

Sightings Click here for sighting information We first spotted a Square-tailed Kite in October 2006, while driving across the Nandewar Range East of Narrabri, NSW. Later, in December 2007, a Square-tailed Kite was spotted by us at Eulah Creek, 20 km East of Narrabri, NSW. Another single Square-tailed Kite was spotted by us at the same location in February 2013. A Square-tailed Kite has also been spotted by us from the Urunga board walk, Urunga Heads, NSW, above mangrove swamps, in July 2009. In April 2011 a Square-tailed Kite was observed by us near Quambone, NSW. In March 2013 a single Square-tailed Kite was spotted in Jack's Creek State Forest, 20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, near Bohena Creek, one of the major creeks coming out of the Pilliga scrub. H. Mouritsen reports spotting a Square-tailed Kite between Pine Creek and Darwin, NT, in October 2015. In July 2017 a single Square-tailed Kite was found at O'Brien's Creek, Narrabri Lake, Narrabri, NSW. In August 2018 two more sightings followed in Narrabri township and close to town. Another pair was found in Narrabri, NSW, in April 2023. The next sighting of a Square-tailed Kite was in the township of Narrabri, NSW, in March 2024, and another in March 2025. A Square-tailed Kite was also found by us between Burren Junction and Pilliga, NSW, in August 2024. M. Eaton reports spotting a Square-tailed Kite repeatedly in Anstead, QLD, in April 2019, and again in May 2020. Another was found at Dayboro, QLD, in August 2024. In August 2022, C. Pears found a Square-tailed Kite at Lake Herdsman, Perth, WA. Another was spotted at Lesmurdie Falls, near Perth, WA, in June 2026.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of an adult Square-tailed Kite
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, July 2017]

Frontal view of a Square-tailed Kite - a stare that, as potential prey, one may want to avoid being subjected to...
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, July 2017]

Near-frontal/ventral view of a Square-tailed Kite (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Dayboro, QLD, August 2024]

Near-lateral view of a Square-tailed Kite displaying its crest
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, July 2017]

Near-lateral view of a Square-tailed Kite displaying its crest, now with its head turned
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, July 2017]

Lateral/ventral view of a Square-tailed Kite looking down at the observer
[Eulah Creek, NSW, February 2013]

Lateral/ventral view of a Square-tailed Kite
[Eulah Creek, NSW, February 2013]

Close-up frontal/ventral view of a Square-tailed Kite in flight
[Narrabri, NSW, September 2018]

Close-up near-frontal/ventral view of a Square-tailed Kite in flight
[Narrabri, NSW, March 2025]

Close-up near-frontal/ventral view of a Square-tailed Kite in flight
[Narrabri, NSW, September 2018]

Close-up near-lateral/ventral view of a Square-tailed Kite in flight
[Narrabri, NSW, September 2018]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a Square-tailed Kite in flight
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, March 2013]

Lateral view of a Square-tailed Kite in flight (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Anstead, QLD, May 2020]

Close-up lateral view of a Square-tailed Kite in flight
[Narrabri, NSW, September 2018]

Close-up lateral/ventral view of a Square-tailed Kite in flight
[Narrabri, NSW, March 2025]

Close-up lateral/ventral view of a Square-tailed Kite in flight, with its inner eyelid closed
[Narrabri, NSW, September 2018]

Close-up lateral/ventral view of a Square-tailed Kite in flight
[Narrabri, NSW, March 2025]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Aug - Nov

Eggs: 2 - 3

Incubation period: 40 days

Fledging age: ca. 63 days

Twitcher's tip

Note that, by the time they fledge (i.e., leave their nest), the young of all species of raptors - apart from the tail and wing feathers (which are still growing) - are already full adult-size.

Nest building: ?

Incubation: Female

Dependent care: Female & male

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Basket

Material: Sticks, eucalypt leaf lining

Height above ground: 10 - 30 m

Square-tailed Kite on its nest (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Dayboro, QLD, November 2019]

Overview of a Square-tailed Kite on its massive nest (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Dayboro, QLD, November 2019]

Two mature Square-tailed Kite chicks in their nest (photo courtesy of D. Johnston)
[Near Baradine, NSW, 1980ies]

Two mature Square-tailed Kite chicks in their nest, with a honeyeater as prey (photo courtesy of D. Johnston)
[Near Baradine, NSW, 1980ies]

Location of the Square-tailed Kite nest shown above, high up in a eucalypt (photo courtesy of D. Johnston)
[Near Baradine, NSW, 1980ies]

Female Square-tailed Kite on its nest near Baradine, NSW (photo courtesy of L. Cutts)
[Near Baradine, NSW]

View from a pair of Square-tailed Kites' aerie into the Pilliga scrub; this photo was taken from a different nest compared to above (photo courtesy of D. Johnston)
[Near Baradine, NSW, 1980ies]

Two mature Square-tailed Kite chicks in the nest with the view shown immediately above (photo courtesy of D. Johnston)
[Near Baradine, NSW, 1980ies]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 52 x 38 mm

Colour: Creamy, speckled & streaked mid-brown

Shape: Tapered oval

Two eggs in a Square-tailed Kite nest (photo courtesy of D. Johnston)
[Near Baradine, NSW, 1980ies]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Dispersive

Elementary unit: Solitary

Food, Diet

All raptors are carnivores. In addition to other prey, Square-tailed Kites take nestlings of smaller bird species, especially of various species of honeyeaters.

Square-tailed Kite ripping apart its prey, which looks grey and furry
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, July 2017]

Square-tailed Kite devouring its prey
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, July 2017]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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