The black-winged kite is a small bird of prey. The majority of the population is found in tropical regions of Africa and South Asia, but there are also fragments of its distribution range in the Mediterranean region, including Southern Europe, such as Spain and Portugal. The species' range has been constantly expanding northwards. It has been nesting in Europe since the mid-19th century. The number of sightings in Northern Europe has also increased in recent years. In 2020, there were five sightings of this species in Denmark, but until now, the black-winged kite has not been included in the lists of observed birds in either Estonia or Lithuania. In Latvia, the black-winged kite had already been anticipated by birdwatchers as a potential newcomer to the Latvian avifauna.
* also known as the black-shouldered kite in some sources