Swallow-Tailed Kite
Elanoides forficatus
Also known as: American Swallow-Tailed Kite, Milano Tijereta, Swallow-Tailed Hawk
About This Species
This graceful raptor hunts almost entirely on the wing, snatching large insects, frogs, and small reptiles from the canopy over cypress swamps and riverine forest in the southeastern United States and Central and South America. Its deeply forked tail and buoyant, soaring flight make it unmistakable against the sky. Spring and summer, over wetland forest in Florida or the Carolinas, offer the best chance of prolonged views as birds circle and stoop.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- In the United States this species is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and nest trees should not be approached or climbed, particularly during incubation and chick-rearing.
- Protections and enforcement differ across its Central and South American wintering range, so travelers should not assume the same rules apply everywhere.
- Viewing from open ground well away from a nest tree, with binoculars rather than closing the distance, is the safer approach throughout.
LCAvesAccipitriformesAccipitridae
Seasonal Activity
425,082 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.