Gray-headed Kite

Gray-headed Kite

Taxobox
name = Gray-headed Kite
status = LC
status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Falconiformes
familia = Accipitridae
genus = "Leptodon"
species = "L. cayanensis"
binomial = "Leptodon cayanensis"
binomial_authority = (Latham, 1790)

The Gray-headed Kite, "Leptodon cayanensis", is a raptor found in open woodland and swamp forests. It shares the genus "Leptodon" with the extremely rare White-collared Kite. It breeds from eastern Mexico and Trinidad south to Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina.

The nest is made of sticks lined with grass and is built high in a tree. The clutch is one or two white eggs, purplish at one end and spotted brown.

The Gray-headed Kite is 46-53 cm in length and weighs 410-605 g. The adult has a grey head, black upperparts, white underparts, and a black tail with two or three white bars. The bill is blue and the legs grey. The flight is a deliberate "flap-flap-glide".

Immature birds have two colour morphs; the light phase is similar to the adult, but has a white head and neck, with a black crown and eyestripe, black bill and yellow legs. The dark phase has a blackish head, neck and upperparts, and dark-streaked buff underparts.

The Gray-headed Kite feeds mainly on reptiles, but also takes frogs and large insects. It usually sits on an open high perch from which it swoops on its prey. The call is a mewling "keow".

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
*cite book
last = ffrench
first = Richard
title = A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago
edition = 2nd edition
year = 1991
publisher = Comstock Publishing
isbn = 0-8014-9792-2
*cite book
last = Hilty
first = Steven L
title = Birds of Venezuela
publisher = Christopher Helm
date = 2003
location = London
isbn = 0-7136-6418-5
* "A guide to the birds of Costa Rica" by Stiles and Skutch ISBN 0-8014-9600-4


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