Elanus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 Black-winged Kite
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E. caeruleus |
Elanus is a genus of bird of prey in the elanid kite subfamily. It consists of four species.
- Black-winged Kite, Elanus caeruleus
- Black-shouldered Kite, Elanus axillaris
- White-tailed Kite, Elanus leucurus
- Letter-winged Kite, Elanus scriptus
The first three species above were considered conspecific as subspecies of the Black-shouldered Kite.
These are white and grey raptors of open country, with black shoulder markings and a short square tail. They hunt by slowly quartering the habitat for rodents and other small mammals, birds and insects., sometimes hovering like a kestrel.
[edit] References
- Ferguson-Lees, Christie, Franklin, Mead and Burton Raptors of the World ISBN: 0713680261
