The Black Kite is a common breeding resident and locally abundant passage migrant and winter visitor. The resident form is govinda, which some authorities consider a separate species from the larger migrant form from central and northern Asia, lineatus. This latter form is also known as the Black-eared Kite, and its dark ear coverts and more contrasting plumage mean that many individuals are separable in the field. It is common in larger towns but scarce in rural areas. It is a scavenger, feeding at rubbish tips and along roadsides, and nesting from December to May in tall trees, often in built-up areas. They are to be seen daily floating overhead, with barely a wing beat but with flexing, forked tails as they search for food. Breeding pairs engage in spectacular aerial displays with much screaming.

From September the migrant form appears and often in very large numbers. Its communal winter roosts are in groves of large, often urban trees. They favour the larger wetlands for scavenging, being very fond of dead fish. Small Groups sit around on sand banks there, waiting for an opportunity to rob other raptors and gulls of their prey, which they often do in consort and with fine flying displays.