Colophon

The animal on the cover of Agile Application Security is an Egyptian yellow-billed kite (Milvus aegyptius). In Latin, Milvus means “kite” and aegyptius means “of Egypt,” thus a kite from Egypt. Accurate enough, although the bird is found throughout most of Africa.

As suggested by its common name, it is easily recognized by its yellow bill. Its plumage is brown and its legs and feet are unfeathered, revealing skin as yellow as its beak. It measures about 55 cm (22 in.) in length and its wingspan is between 160–180 cm (5 ft., 3 in.–5 ft., 11 in.). The yellow-billed kite has a slow-sailing flight with a widespread tail and pinions that appear motionless. The rudder-like tail enables it to turn with ease. It is graceful in flight, and capable of bursts of surprising speed.

Like many other raptors, it relies on termites as a major food source. It grabs the termites with its talons and eats them in flight. The yellow-billed kite also frequents the quieter stretches of road where it forages for carrion. Urban areas suit this bird well, as it is not uncommon for the kite to swoop down and steal food from humans or other birds.

The yellow-billed kites are monogamous during the breeding season. If the male brings sufficient food, the female may not hunt during the entire breeding attempt. The kite builds a bowl-shaped nest of sticks in the canopy of a suitable tree, lining it with bits of soft material that can be found. The female lays a clutch of two or three white eggs that hatch after an incubation period of about 35 days. Chicks leave the nest after 42–56 days, but will depend on both parents for another 15–50 days.

Many of the animals on O’Reilly covers are endangered; all of them are important to the world. To learn more about how you can help, go to animals.oreilly.com.

The cover image is from Lydekker’s Royal Natural History. The cover fonts are URW Typewriter and Guardian Sans. The text font is Adobe Minion Pro; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is Dalton Maag’s Ubuntu Mono.