Friday, August 31, 2012

Kuhi, the mountain kite

The Hungarian Ornithological Society has reported on the observation of a new bird.

Perhaps climate change is also a reason why a beautiful, small bird of prey, originally native to the tropics, has been observed today in Hungary.


The bird – in Hungarian kuhi, in English black-winged kite (Elanus caeruleus) belongs to the family of the diurnal birds of pray, and due to its characteristic appearance it is hardly to be confused with other species. It is bluish gray on the back, bright on the belly, and has black wings. The eyes of the adults are bright red, the wing feathers dark black, and their yellow feet are visible from afar.

We have checked where the strange-sounding Hungarian name of the bird comes from. Most languages name the animals unfamiliar in their territory by comparing them to a familiar species: thus, in most European languages the kuhi is called “kite”, namely black-winged kite, white kite (nibbio bianco), gray kite (luněc šedý), and even black-winged smoky kite (чернокрылый дымчатый коршун). In contrast, in Hungarian they have adopted the Persian name of the bird (کوهی, kuhi) meaning “mountain”, as it is called in its original habitats, where the language of culture is Persian or Arabic, which also took over the Persian name. It would be interesting to know who first heard and introduced the Persian name in Hungarian!

Originally in Africa, Rear India and the Indonesian Archipelago widespread species regularly nesting population is now Spain and Portugal, and more recently in Poland, Greece, Germany and Austria have also been reported in news. In Hungary, the Zámolyi Basin, Vértes Nature Park watching the photographic reporting Gabor Szalai.

The species, originally widespread in Africa, Northern India and in the Indonesian archipelago has a regularly nesting population in Spain and Portugal, and more recently they reported its appearance in Poland, Greece, Germany and Austria. In Hungary, it has been observed for the first time in the Zámolyi Basin, the Vértes Nature Park by Gábor Szalai, who published the first photo report on it.



via MME

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