 |
|
Similar species Accipitridae
|
|
|
Conservation status |
| | |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| |
Hook-billed Kite (Chondrohierax uncinatus)
[order] Falconiformes | [family] Accipitridae | [latin] Chondrohierax uncinatus | [UK] Hook-billed Kite | [FR] Milan bec-en-croc | [DE] Langschnabelweih | [ES] Milano Pico de Garfio | [IT] Nibbio beccouncinato | [NL] Langsnavelwouw | [SU] Aka
Characteristics
The adult male is slaty grey, darker above becoming black on wing and tail quills; the latter having a narrow white tip and a broad subterminal bar, which is grey above and white below; also a less well-marked white bar near base. The underside of the bird is grey, lightly barred with white, more bold on the under side of primaries. The adult female is brown rather than grey, becoming rufous below, boldly barred with dull white, and with a rufous collar on the back of her neck. The crown and the sides of her head are grey. The tail bars are narrower than in the male, the underside of the primaries are grey to rufous grey, barred white. Immatures in the normal phase have dark brown upper parts; the feathers, including the secondaries and primaries, being edged with rufous or (on the wing feathers) white. The tail has three narrow grey or grey and white bars and a grey tip. The under parts are white, sometimes lightly barred with black, especially on the thighs and sides. There is a white collar around the neck. The primaries in both sexes are conspicuously barred below.
| wingspan min.: | 81 | cm | wingspan max.: | 85 | cm |
| size min.: | 38 | cm | size max.: | 43 | cm |
| incubation min.: | 28 | days | incubation max.: | 32 | days |
| fledging min.: | 28 | days | fledging max.: | 30 | days |
| broods: | 1 | | eggs min.: | 1 | |
| | | | eggs max.: | 3 | |
Click items below to expand
The Hook-billed Kite is found in Tropical America from the coastal lowlands of northern Mexico and Texas, south to eastern Peru and Bolivia, the Guianas, northern Argentina and Paraguay. It is also fond in some of the islands of the Caribbean. The Hook-billed Kite feeds primarily on land snails, both arboreal and terrestrial. The animals are neatly extracted and piles of shells can be found beneath its perches. In Cuba it feeds chiefly on tree-snails. In Grenada and elsewhere it takes large terrestrial snails. Chondrohierax is less specialised than the Snail Kites of the genus Rostrhamus, as it also eats frogs, salamanders, insects, and caterpillars, as well as snails. These birds show courship behavior by circling together and flying at each other while whistling.
The nest, built in middle sized trees (6 to 25 meters), lodged in small branches about 5 meters from the top, entirely consists of dead twigs and branches. These are loosely interwoven to form a platform. The nest is lined with smaller twigs. It is a saucer-shaped concavity about 8 cm deep. The outside diameter of the nest was about 35 cm, the inside 18 cm and the thickness of the material at the center of the depression about 3cm.
In Texas eggs and nestlings were observed in early May and hatchlings in early June. In Northern Mexico eggs were recorded in early and mid-May, eggs and nestlings in June. In surinam nest building in october, eggs in november en young seen in march. Clutch size is 1-3 eggs, incubated for about one month (29-35 days) and the young fledge after about 29 days. Fledging mostly at the start of the rainy season, which is coinciding with abundance of snails. Both parents incubate the eggs and young may stay with parents through winter. The Hook-billed Kite feeds primarily on land snails, both arboreal and terrestrial. The animals are neatly extracted and piles of shells can be found beneath its perches. In Cuba it feeds chiefly on tree-snails. In Grenada and elsewhere it takes large terrestrial snails. Chondrohierax is less specialised than the Snail Kites of the genus Rostrhamus, as it also eats frogs, salamanders, insects, and caterpillars, as well as snails. This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 9,800,000 kmē. It has a large global population estimated to be 50,000-500,000 individuals (Rich et al. 2003). Global population trends have not been quantified; there is evidence of a population decline (Ferguson-Lees et al. 2001), 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. Sedentary in all of its range. article number 1 Title
FEEDING HABITS AND BILL POLYMORPHISM IN HOOK-BILLED KITES
Author(s): THOMAS BATES SMITH AND STANLEY A. TEMPLE
Abstract: The Hook-billed Kite (Chondrohieraxu ncinatus),a neotropical, snail-eating raptor, exhibits extraordinary intraspecific variation in bill size, which is unrelated to sex and age and is largely indepen..[more]..
Source: The Auk 99:197-207 April 1982
download full text (pdf)
| Avibirds Birding shop | Birding Blog |
 |
In association with Amazon we offer you the latest on bird books, cameras and backyard birding.
|  |
Blog your trips or birding adventures and comment on others. Any questions regarding species, drop them here. |
| Avibirds photo gallery | Avibirds literature section |
| Place your bird pictures in our gallery, receive 100MB free space without any obligation. Need more ? just drop us a mail.
| 
| Learn more about bird species, the literature section offers 1100 articles covering 340 species. |
| Birds of Suriname | Birds of Europe |
 | Unique to the internet a guide to the birds of Suriname, with over 700 species accounted for.
|  |
A guide covering 550+ species. Physical description, habitat, range, breeding, feeding, song and movies. |
|
Maintained by Jan Dolphijn, the Netherlands 2000-2009 - your source for Suriname birds
|
Avibirds Suriname birdguide online
Your source to the birds of Suriname: Hook-billed Kite (Chondrohierax uncinatus) 
Suriname status