These photos depict two of courtship rituals of the White-tailed Kite: mating and food-exchange. Sharing food during courtship is common in the avian world, and the kites in these photos are no exception. The male below (which is indistinguishable from the female) caught a vole and waited for the female to arrive and accept the offering. (She often takes the prey from the male while in flight, but this morning she was chasing off a Northern Harrier when he caught the vole.) After receiving the gift from her partner, she proceeds to eat it.
