Kite is the common name for certain birds of prey in the family Accipitridae, particularly in the subfamilies Elaninae and Perninae and certain genera within Buteoninae and Harpaginae. The term is derived from Old English cȳta, onomatopoeic from the call notes of the buzzard (Buteo buteo) and red kite (Milvus milvus). The name, having no cognate names in other European languages, is thought to have arisen in England; it apparently originally denoted the buzzard, as the red kite was then known by the widespread Germanic name 'glede' or 'glead', and was only later transferred to the red kite as "fork-tailed kite" by Christopher Merret in his 1667 Pinax Rerum Naturalium Britannicarum. By the time of Thomas Pennant's 1768 British Zoology, the name had become fixed on the red kite, other birds named 'kite' around the world being named from their then-perceived relationship to it. Some authors use the terms "hovering kite" and "soaring kite" to distinguish between Elanus and Milvus kites, respectively. The group may also be differentiated by size, referring to Milvus kites and their relatives as "large kites", and elanine kites as "small kites".
Species The following species, from multiple subdivisions of the family Accipitridae, have 'kite' in their English names:
Subfamily Elaninae Genus Elanus Black-winged kite Elanus caeruleus Black-shouldered kite Elanus axillaris White-tailed kite Elanus leucurus Letter-winged kite Elanus scriptus Genus Chelictinia Scissor-tailed kite Chelictinia riocourii Genus Gampsonyx Pearl kite Gampsonyx swainsonii Subfamily Buteoninae Genus Haliastur Whistling kite Haliastur sphenurus Brahminy kite Haliastur indus Genus Milvus Red kite Milvus milvus Cape Verde kite Milvus milvus fasciicauda – extinct (2000) Black kite Milvus migrans Black-eared kite Milvus migrans lineatus Yellow-billed kite Milvus aegyptius Genus Ictinia Mississippi kite Ictinia mississippiensis Plumbeous kite Ictinia plumbea Genus Rostrhamus Snail kite Rostrhamus sociabilis Genus Helicolestes Slender-billed kite Helicolestes hamatus – formerly in Rostrhamus Subfamily Harpaginae Genus Harpagus Double-toothed kite Harpagus bidentatus Rufous-thighed kite Harpagus diodon Subfamily Perninae Genus Elanoides Swallow-tailed kite Elanoides forficatus Genus Leptodon Grey-headed kite Leptodon cayanensis White-collared kite Leptodon forbesi Genus Chondrohierax Hook-billed kite Chondrohierax uncinatus Cuban kite Chondrohierax wilsonii Genus Lophoictinia Square-tailed kite Lophoictinia isura
Taxonomy and systematics
19th century In 1824, Vigors proposed five divisions or stirpes of the family Falconidae: Aquilina (eagles), Accipitrina (hawks), Falconina (falcons), Buteonina (buzzards) and Milvina (kites, containing two genera Elanus and Milvus). He distinguished the kites as having weaker bill and feebler talons than the buzzards, tail more or less forked, and wings longer than the tail. In Elanus, he grouped the black-winged kite (now several Elanus spp.), scissor-tailed kite (now Chelictinia), and swallow-tailed kite (now Elanoides). These species all have pointed wings with the second primary the longest. The pattern of scales on the legs (acrotarsi) is reticulated, and the toes are separated. But Vigors noted that only the black-winged kite had rounded undersides on the nails of its talons, a trait found in the osprey but not in any other raptors, and thus suggested a separation of Elanus into two sections. A year later, he established a separate genus Nauclerus for the scissor- and swallow-tailed kites. Milvus contained the familiar red and black kites. The fourth primary feather is the longest, leg scales are scutellated, and the exterior toe is united to the middle toe by a membrane. Vigors placed Ictinia, "the Milan Cresserelle of M. Vieillot" and "the Mississippi Kite of Mr. Wilson", into Buteonina. Though noting that "the wings are of considerable length, extending far beyond the tail, a character which has induced M. Vieillot and others to place this bird near the Kites", he wrote that the strong affinity in characteristics and manners warranted it to be placed closer to the falcons.
20th century Swann's 1922 synopsis grouped all the kites together with the "cuckoo-falcons" and honey buzzards into a large Milvinæ subfamily. His order was: Elanoides, Chelictinia, Milvus, Lophoictinia, Rostrhamus, Helicolestes, Chondrohierax, Odontriorchis, Gypoictinia (=Hamirostra), Elanus, Gampsonyx, Ictinia, Harpagus, Baza, Aviceda, Henicopernis, Machærhamphus, Pernis. In contrast, Peters grouped the large kites into subfamily Milvinae and most small kites into Elaninae, with a few small kites joining the honey-buzzards and bazas in Perninae. His arrangement of kite genera was as follows:
Elaninae: Elanus, Chelictinia, Machaerhamphus. Perninae: Elanoïdes, (Aviceda, Henicopernis, Pernis, Odontotriorchis), Chondrohierax. Milvinae: Harpagus, Ictinia, Rostrhamus, Helicolestes, Milvus, Lophoictinia, Hamirostra, Haliastur. Polyhieracinae: Gampsonyx The pearl kite Gampsonyx had variously been placed with the accipiters, forest-falcons, or elanine kites. It was not until the 1960s that a similar moult schedule established its affinity to Elanus.
21st century By 2015, genetic research showed that many of the kite genera are related to honey-buzzards. Several of the large kites are related more closely to the Buteo hawks (buzzards) than to other kites and sea-eagles. Boyd places the "true" milvine kites (Milvus and Haliastur) with the sea-eagles in tribe Milvini within Buteoninae. This results in the following arrangement (genera in parentheses are not generally called kites):
Elaninae: Gampsonyx, Chelictinia, Elanus. Perninae: Chondrohierax, Leptodon, Elanoides, (Pernis), Hamirostra, Lophoictinia, (Henicopernis). Buteoninae Harpagini: Harpagus. Milvini: Haliastur, Milvus, (Haliaeetus, Icthyophaga). Buteonini: many genera, including the kites Ictinia, Rostrhamus, and Helicolestes. Ictinia is near-basal, after the Old-World genus Butastur. Rostrhamus and Helicolestes form a clade with the black-collared hawk (Busarellus) and the crane hawk (Geranospiza). As early as 1882, Anton Reichenow had also placed Section Milvinæ alongside Section Buteoninæ in Subfamily Buteoninæ.
In mythology
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