facts about the snail kite
By zteve t evans
The Snail kite is a bird of prey of the same family (Accipitridae) as Old World vultures, eagles and hawks and is so named after its main food. It is also known as the Snail hawk, Black Kite, Everglade kite and Hook-billed kite.
Scientific name
The Snail kite takes it scientific name from Latin with 'rostrum' meaning beak and 'hamus' meaning hook and because of the sociable nesting behaviour of this bird 'sociabilis' is added giving it a scientific name of Rostrhamus Sociabilis.
Description
Males and females are dissimilar in appearance. The male has bluish black plumage while the female has a white face and the rest of her is brown streaked.
They have wingspans of almost 4 feet and their body is 16-18 inches and they weigh around 12-14 oz.
It is similar to the Northern harrier and the Crested caracara. The Northern harrier also hunts marsh and swamp areas but is thinner with a longer tail. The Crested caracara has white breast and wings with white patches and a white base to its tail.
Habitat
The Snail kite is a highly specialised bird of prey. It feeds mainly on certain kinds of snails which only inhabit marshy and damp areas. This limits the kite's range to that of the snail and it is found in tropical and sub tropical marshes and swamps with scarce vegetation in regions such as Florida, some of the Caribbean Islands, Central and South America.
The Snail kite takes it scientific name from Latin with 'rostrum' meaning beak and 'hamus' meaning hook and because of the sociable nesting behaviour of this bird 'sociabilis' is added giving it a scientific name of Rostrhamus Sociabilis.
Description
Males and females are dissimilar in appearance. The male has bluish black plumage while the female has a white face and the rest of her is brown streaked.
They have wingspans of almost 4 feet and their body is 16-18 inches and they weigh around 12-14 oz.
It is similar to the Northern harrier and the Crested caracara. The Northern harrier also hunts marsh and swamp areas but is thinner with a longer tail. The Crested caracara has white breast and wings with white patches and a white base to its tail.
Habitat
The Snail kite is a highly specialised bird of prey. It feeds mainly on certain kinds of snails which only inhabit marshy and damp areas. This limits the kite's range to that of the snail and it is found in tropical and sub tropical marshes and swamps with scarce vegetation in regions such as Florida, some of the Caribbean Islands, Central and South America.
Hunting and diet
Snail kites will either fly over areas searching for food or take a position on a high perch where it can scan the ground for prey. Its hooked beak is specially adapted to remove snails from their shells though if there are none available they will catch crabs, rodents and turtles.
Breeding
Snail kites are social birds forming nesting colonies in trees with others of its kind. They build nests on branches using sticks. Females lay 2-4 eggs which are incubated for 26-28 days by both parents. After 6-7 weeks the young fledge.
Sometimes female Snail kites will have a second clutch of eggs in a season. The female may search for another mate leaving the male parent to look to raise the young.
Conservation and threats
In the Everglades of Florida the Snail kite is an endangered species with less than 400 breeding pairs. It is thought that human control of the water levels is depleting the snail population it mostly feeds on. However, over its complete range it is not considered threatened and in some South American countries it is thought that numbers may be increasing.
© 30/10/2009 zteve t evans
Snail kites will either fly over areas searching for food or take a position on a high perch where it can scan the ground for prey. Its hooked beak is specially adapted to remove snails from their shells though if there are none available they will catch crabs, rodents and turtles.
Breeding
Snail kites are social birds forming nesting colonies in trees with others of its kind. They build nests on branches using sticks. Females lay 2-4 eggs which are incubated for 26-28 days by both parents. After 6-7 weeks the young fledge.
Sometimes female Snail kites will have a second clutch of eggs in a season. The female may search for another mate leaving the male parent to look to raise the young.
Conservation and threats
In the Everglades of Florida the Snail kite is an endangered species with less than 400 breeding pairs. It is thought that human control of the water levels is depleting the snail population it mostly feeds on. However, over its complete range it is not considered threatened and in some South American countries it is thought that numbers may be increasing.
© 30/10/2009 zteve t evans
References and Attributions
Copyright October 30, 2009 zteve t evans
Copyright October 30, 2009 zteve t evans
- Snail kite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Snail Kite, Identification, All About Birds
- Snail Kite: Species Profile - Everglades National Park