Hook-billed kite

Hook-billed kite

Hook-billed kite in Pasco, Peru

Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)^[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Accipitriformes
Family:	Accipitridae
Genus:	Chondrohierax
Species:	C. uncinatus
Binomial name
*Chondrohierax uncinatus* (Temminck, 1822)
Subspecies^[2]
C. u. uncinatus - (Temminck, 1822) C. u. mirus - Friedmann, 1934

The hook-billed kite (Chondrohierax uncinatus), is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, eagles, and harriers. It occurs in the Americas, including the Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and tropical South America.

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Description

It is a mid-sized, slender raptor with an invariably striped belly and banded tail but there is probably more individual variation in color and in size of bill than in any other species of diurnal raptor. Birds from beneath can look blackish or gray (especially males) and brown or brick-red (females) variously. This renders species identification at times extremely difficult. The downcurved hook at the tip of the beak is apparent on perched and low-flying birds. Weight can range from 215 to 397 g (7.6 to 14.0 oz) and length is 38–51 cm (15–20 in).^[3]^[4]

Ecology

Tree snails (e.g. Bulimulus, Homolanyx, and Polymita) are a vital component of the hook-billed kite’s diet.^[5]^[6] The density of their population within a region is proportional to the presence of tree snails. It has also been observed that the beak of the hook-billed kite has adapted in size and shape between different regions of their territory in response to the species of tree snail available to them.^[7] However, terrestrial snails (e.g. Strophocheilus), aquatic snails (e.g. Pomacea), frogs, salamanders, lizards, small mammals, crabs, spiders, caterpillars, and insects are also taken.^[8]^[9]^[10] It supposedly also hunts other birds, but this seems unlikely.^[11] When it finds a tree snail it holds it with its talon and uses its beak to pry open the shell.

Breeding

The nest, a flimsy platform of sticks, is built by both sexes. The hook-billed kite lays two to three buff-white eggs marked with red-brown. Incubation is by both sexes. Semialtricial young stay in the nest 35–45 days and are fed by both sexes. This raptor is often considered sluggish and retiring, preferring to perch inside leafy canopy when not flying.

Taxonomy

The critically endangered Cuban kite (C. wilsonii) is considered by some authors to be a subspecies of the hook-billed kite.

References

^ BirdLife International (2020). "Chondrohierax uncinatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22694971A168997614. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22694971A168997614.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
^ Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2020. IOC World Bird List (v10.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.10.2.
^ Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2001): Endangered Wildlife and Plants of the World on Google Books
^ Grenada Hook Billed Kite bu.edu^{[dead link]}
^ Ferguson-Lees, J. & Christie, D.A. & Franklin, K. & Mead, D. & Burton, P.. (2001). Raptors of the world. Helm Identification Guides.
^ "Birds of the World: Hook-billed jite". 31 August 2014.
^ Dunne, Pete (2012). Hawks in flight : the flight identification of North American raptors (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 301. ISBN 978-0-395-70959-7.
^ "Hook-billed Kite | the Peregrine Fund".
^ Ferguson-Lees, J. & Christie, D.A. & Franklin, K. & Mead, D. & Burton, P.. (2001). Raptors of the world. Helm Identification Guides.
^ "Chondrohierax uncinatus (Hook-billed Kite" (PDF). uwi.edu. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
^ Ferguson-Lees, J. & Christie, D.A. & Franklin, K. & Mead, D. & Burton, P.. (2001). Raptors of the world. Helm Identification Guides.