Black-winged kite

Black-winged Kites 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.