White-tailed Kite

White-tailed Kite, adult in flight; Channel Is., CA, November.

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Reproduction
8. Conservation Status
9. Other Names

A medium-sized raptor of open grasslands and savannahs, the White-tailed Kite is readily identified by its bright plumage and its habit of hovering while hunting for small mammals.

Cool Facts

• During the nonbreeding season, the White-tailed Kite roosts communally, with more than 100 individuals counted at some roosts.

• Although some populations fluctuate regularly in size, it is unknown whether the White-tailed Kite is migratory, nomadic, or both.

Description

• Size: 32-38 cm (13-15 in)
• Weight: 300-360 g (10.59-12.71 ounces)

Medium-sized hawk. Long, narrow, pointed wings. Long white tail. Gray back and wings. White face and underside. Black spot on inner portion of wings. Eyes red.

Sex Differences

Sexes look similar; female with slightly darker back.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but with buffy streaks on breast and head, gray with white-tipped (scalloped) feathers on back, and yellow eyes.

Similar Species

• White-tailed Hawk is larger and more robust, has a shorter tail with a dark band near the tip, and lacks the black spots in the wings.
• Mississippi Kite is dull gray with a slightly rounded black tail.

Sound

Call a whistled yelp.

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Summer Range

Resident in southern Texas and California, as well as scattered locations in Washington, Oregon, and Florida. Also from Mexico to South America.Savanna, open woodlands, marshes, desert grassland, partially cleared lands, and cultivated fields.

Habitat

Savanna, open woodlands, marshes, desert grassland, partially cleared lands, and cultivated fields.

Reproduction

Condition at Hatching

Helpless and covered in down.

Conservation Status

Populations decreased to very low numbers by early 1900s, but increased after 1940. Some local decreases occurring currently.

Other Names

Élanion à queue blanche (French)
Milano coliblanco, Milano maromero (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Dunk, J. R. 1995. White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus). In The Birds of North America, No. 178 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists? Union, Washington, D.C.