Click on the Kite or its track to view a larger image. |
DISTINGUISHING MARKS
(White-tailed Kite) 15-17” (38-43 cm). This whitish kite is falcon-shaped, with long, pointed wings and a long white tail. Soars and glides like a small gull; often hovers. Adult: Pale gray with a white head, underparts and tail. A large black parch on the fore edge of the upperwing is onvious in perched birds, Overhead, shows an oval black patch at the carpal joint (“wrist”) of the underwing. Immature: Recognizable as this kite, but has a rusty breast, a brown back, and a narrow dark band near the tip of its pale grayish tail.
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DISTRIBUTION
Western Oregon and southern Texas to Chile, Argentina.
HABITAT
Open groves, river valleys, marshes, grasslands.
POINTS OF INTEREST
A whistled kee kee kee, abrupt or drawn out. |
