It's not hard to spot one of these large, brown birds - fierce and fearless. With hooked beak, curved talons and strong wings with streaked feather markings, they are often seen soaring in the air among the tallest buildings and skyscrapers. They are the black kites, widely known as 'eagles' in Hong Kong. The territory has the highest population density of these birds in the world.
But few know that, although they look proud and strong, our black kites have been increasingly affected by human activity.
'We might be scared by their appearance, but human beings are absolutely the biggest threat to the black kites,' says Peter Chan, a member of the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society's kite research group.
Every winter, the birds move south to the city for warmer weather, food and shelter. The society estimates there are 1,300 black kites in Hong Kong. Magazine Gap in Mid-Levels alone is home to 800. These large raptors (birds of prey) are about 50 to 69 centimetres long and have a wingspan of about 150cm. They belong to the Accipitridae family.
Black kites sit at the top of the food chain. They help to recycle and remove animal remains. In addition to small fish, they live on the meat of dead animals and, in recent years, rubbish.
'Quite often you can see a crowd of 20 to 30 black kites fighting for food over the Tseung Kwan O landfill sites,' says Ken Ching See-ho, head of the Eco-Education & Resources Centre (ERC). 'It would not be surprising if one dropped a dead mouse on your head.'