The Double-toothed Kite is a resident of the fringes or interior of tropical lowland rain-forest from southern Mexico to central eastern Bolivia and to Minas Geraes and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. It is also present in similar habitat in Trinidad.

This species prefers rain forest, forest edge, clearings and second growth in tropical and sub tropical zones ip to 300 meters. Soars over the trees, but hunts just under the canopy.

Females conduct most of the nest-building, although males participated on several occasions. Males regularly bring prey (lizards) to females in the nest vicinity during early to midmorning. Arriving with prey in their talons, males typically land in a tree lo-20 m from the nest, emitting a series of single-note chirping calls. Usually voicing a two-note Cheee-weet vocalization, the female would flies to the perched male, where the prey exchange would take place. This can be followed by copulation. Nesting coicides in most caseswih the onset of the rainy season, probably because of the high abaundance of insects during this period.
Double-toothed Kites frequently soar high over the forest in pairs. The aerial display has been described as similar to that of an Accipiter; males made repeated short swoops or stoops (from up to 300m) which were interrupted periodically by rapid flapping to regain altitude. Eggs are incubated by the female only. Males are rarely seen in the nest vicinity during the incubation period except during infrequent prey deliveries, which are generally lizards. During the nestling phase the female is the main feeder of the cups and also hunts for food, insects and lizards which are fed in small pieces.

This forest resident of Trinidad perches just below the treetops scanning for its principal food source, lizards. It will also eat bats, insects (cicadas, grasshoppers and crickets), butterflies and bird nestlings. In hunting its prey this Kite sometimes flies straight from the perch at the prey, other times it swoops at steep angles downward from a perch to snatch prey from the air or vegetation with a quick turn and occasionally drops straight down to the surface of a lower tree crown to snatch the prey. In addition to these hunting techniques the Double-toothed Kite also (1) pursues lizards along branches by hopping with outstretched wings, (2) takes bats on the wing near a presumed roost site, and (3) follows troops of capuchin, squirrel, and tamarin monkeys, opportunistically capturing prey flushed by the primates. When following monkeys it comes to lower levels in the trees and sits behind and below the monkeys.

This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 9,000,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 100,000-1,000,000 individuals (Ferguson-Lees et al. 2001). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Probably sedentary in all of its range, with some juvenile post breeding dispersal

article number 1 Title
BEHAVIOR, DIET, AND BREEDING BIOLOGY OF DOUBLETOOTHED KITE AT A GUATEMALAN LOWLAND SITE
Author(s): MARK D. SCHULZE, JOSE Luis C~RDOVA, NATHANIEL E. SEAVY AND DAVID E WHITACRE
Abstract: We studied Double-toothed Kites (Harpagus bidentatus) in tropical lowlandforest at Tikal National Park, Peten, Guatemala, documenting behavior and diet during theincubation and nestling periods. These..[more]..
Source: The Condor 102:113-126
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