One of my favourite raptors.
28th January 2026
It was a pleasure to be driving along with our other top bird guide friend Massaneh Sanyang, Mass for short, who is probably the best all round naturalist I’ve met in The Gambia. His knowledge is not only about birds, but butterflies, dragonflies, animals and plants. He is always collecting plants when we are out walking typically for making things like tea and remedies for all sorts of ailments.
He was bemoaning the habitat loss in the country, in particular bush clearance for building and the felling of hardwood trees like Mahogany for sale around the world.
He was talking about the Black Shouldered Kite and how few there are around now compared to a few years ago when they were plentiful. This conversation came up when I was asking him about them because they are one of my all-time favourite raptors. They are so beautiful, their body is little bigger than a Common Kestrel but their wingspan is greater. They appear ghost-like with their grey white plumage and with intense ruby red eyes - quite stunning.
As if to be, when we turned a corner Mass shouted there above – a Black Shouldered Kite, I couldn’t believe it, we were all laughing at the coincidence. We screeched to a halt and I jumped out and fired off a few frames as it hovered above us. It then drifted away and landed in a nearby tree. I told him I had to give it a go and get nearer to it; I wasn’t expecting any luck because these birds are quite nervous. However, using an old building as cover I sneaked forward and to my surprise it tolerated me and I was able to get quite close indeed.
They really are a stunning bird!
He was bemoaning the habitat loss in the country, in particular bush clearance for building and the felling of hardwood trees like Mahogany for sale around the world.
He was talking about the Black Shouldered Kite and how few there are around now compared to a few years ago when they were plentiful. This conversation came up when I was asking him about them because they are one of my all-time favourite raptors. They are so beautiful, their body is little bigger than a Common Kestrel but their wingspan is greater. They appear ghost-like with their grey white plumage and with intense ruby red eyes - quite stunning.
As if to be, when we turned a corner Mass shouted there above – a Black Shouldered Kite, I couldn’t believe it, we were all laughing at the coincidence. We screeched to a halt and I jumped out and fired off a few frames as it hovered above us. It then drifted away and landed in a nearby tree. I told him I had to give it a go and get nearer to it; I wasn’t expecting any luck because these birds are quite nervous. However, using an old building as cover I sneaked forward and to my surprise it tolerated me and I was able to get quite close indeed.
They really are a stunning bird!