Snail Kite

Snail Kite, male at nest

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Snail Kite, immature in flight

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1. Description
2. Similar Species
3. Sound
4. Range
5. Food
6. Conservation Status
7. Other Names

A bird of tropical marshlands, the Snail Kite makes it to the United States only in southern Florida. This specialized hawk feeds primarily on snails

Description

• Size: 36-40 cm (14-16 in)
• Weight: 360-570 g (12.71-20.12 ounces)

• Medium-sized hawk.
• Narrow, strongly down-curved bill.
• Broad wings.
• Short, square tail.
• White at base of tail.
• Male all sooty gray.
• Female striped.

Sex Differences

Male all dark, female brown striped and slightly larger.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult female, but with more scaly markings on back and yellow, not red legs.

Similar Species

• Northern Harrier also flies low over marshes and has a white rump, but it is more slender, has a long tail, and teeters from side-to-side as it flies.
• Crested Caracara has white at base of tail, but also has white chest and white patches in the wings.

Sound

Usually silent; makes harsh cackling.

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Summer Range

Resident in southern Florida, in and near the Everglades. Also Mexico and Cuba southward through Central and South America.

Food

Primarily apple snails (Pomacea sp.).

Conservation Status

Listed as Federal and State endangered species because of its small population in the United States and its extreme habitat specialization. Widespread and common in Latin America.

Other Names

Milan des marais (French)
Everglade Kite (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Sykes, P. W., Jr., J. A. Rodgers, Jr., and R. E. Bennetts. 1995. Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis). In The Birds of North America, No. 171 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.