Milvus

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Milvus
Black Kite (lower left) and Red Kites
Black Kite (lower left) and Red Kites
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Accipitridae
Subfamily: Milvinae
Genus: Milvus
Lacepede, 1799
Species

See text for discussion

Milvus is a genus of medium-sized birds of prey. It is an Old World group consisting of three kites which form part of the subfamily Milvinae. Its systematics are under revision; it contains 3-4 species.

Allozyme data indicates that the genetic diversity in both Black and Red Kites is rather low (Schreiber et al. 2000). Successful hybridization between Milvus kites is fairly commonplace, making mtDNA analyses unreliable to resolve the genus' phylogeny. Furthermore, there is no good correlation between molecular characters and biogeography and morphology in the Red Kite due to very incomplete lineage sorting.

The Yellow-billed Kite is apparently a good species, as indicated by mtDNA phylogeny[citation needed], biogeography[citation needed], and morphology[citation needed]. The Black-eared Kite is somewhat distinct morphologically, but is better considered a well-marked parapatric subspecies. The status of the Cape Verde Kite is in doubt; while not a completely monophyletic lineage according to mtDNA data, it is still best regarded as a distinct species. Whatever its status, this population is extinct.

A prehistoric kite from the Early Pleistocene (1.8 million - 780,000 years ago) deposits at 'Ubeidiya (Israel) was described as Milvus pygmaeus.

[edit] References

  • Schreiber, Arnd; Stubbe, Michael & Stubbe, Annegret (2000): Red kite (Milvus milvus) and black kite (M. migrans): minute genetic interspecies distance of two raptors breeding in a mixed community (Falconiformes: Accipitridae). Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 69'(3): 351–365. doi:10.1006/bijl.1999.0365 (HTML abstract)

Milvus Group

The Association for Bird and Nature Protection "Milvus Group" is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, acting in the fields of education, research and advisory, in order to make Romania a better place for birds, wildlife and people. A few very enthusiastic young bird-watchers founded the Milvus in autumn 1991. Soon after this, we joined the Romanian Ornithological Society, becoming its branch in Tirgu Mures. Since the end of 2001 the Association for Bird and Nature Protection "Milvus Group" became an independent registered NGO. www.milvus.ro

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