Whilst birding Khafra Marsh in mid-June I located an adult Black-winged Kite at some distance and in a different are to where I have been seening them this year. This and another bird has been around for a couple of years now and a juvenile was also seen at the location in February this year indicating breeding had occurred. The first record for the Eastern Province was only found on 17 April 2012, but since then has become more common with birds seen in every month and every year since the first record and its status has changed from a vagrant to a scarce visitor. Up to two adult birds have been recorded at Khafra Marsh throughout 2022 so hopefully they will breed again. All birds sub-specifically identified in the east of the Kingdom are the eastern subspecies Elanus caeruleus vociferous a subspecies that occurs from Pakistan east to southern & eastern China, Indochina and the Malay Peninsula. The species has been proposed to be split on genetic grounds into Eastern Black-winged Kite Elanus vociferous and Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus. Black-winged Kite has also been seen in Saudi Arabia in the southwest of the Kingdom.
