White-Tailed Kite
Elanus leucurus
About This Species
Scan open grassland and agricultural edges for this kite hovering on rapidly beating wings, a hunting posture it holds for long stretches before dropping onto rodents below. Pairs often perch conspicuously atop isolated trees or utility poles between hunts, making them easy to spot against open sky. They are active by day year-round across their range, with numbers often higher where vole populations are booming.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Watch from a vehicle or a distance using binoculars rather than walking toward perched or hunting birds, particularly near nest trees during the breeding season when disturbance can cause adults to abandon eggs or young.
- It is protected from killing, capture, and nest disturbance under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in the US and equivalent laws elsewhere in its range across the Americas.
- Avoid lingering beneath an active nest tree even if the birds seem tolerant.
LCAvesAccipitriformesAccipitridae
Seasonal Activity
539,710 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
Photo
(c) Ricardo Arredondo T., some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Ricardo Arredondo T.
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.