Double-toothed kite

The double-toothed kite (Harpagus bidentatus) is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is found in Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.[1]

Double-toothed kite
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Harpagus
Species:
H. bidentatus
Binomial name
Harpagus bidentatus
(Latham, 1790)
Subspecies[2]
  • H. b. fasciatus - Lawrence, 1869
  • H. b. bidentatus - (Latham, 1790)

Description

This fairly small raptor is 33–38 cm (13–15 in) long and weighs 161-230 grams (5.7-8.2 oz.)[3] It is dark grey in colour. The kite's white rump patch is conspicuous in flight, making the double toothed kite one of the easiest Costa Rican raptors to identify.[4]

Habitat

The double toothed kite is a fairly common bird in the mid and low elevation forests of Central America.[4] Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.[1]

Silanche Reserve - Ecuador

Diet

The double-toothed kite generally hunts from a perch above the rainforest floor. The kite dives quickly downward to catch lizards and insects, the principle staples of its diet.[5] The double toothed kite is an opportunistic hunter, often perching near groups of monkeys in order to capture prey flushed by the large mammals.[5]

Notes
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Harpagus bidentatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2020. IOC World Bird List (v10.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.10.2.
  3. Double-toothed Kite.
  4. Henderson, Carrol L. "Birds of Costa Rica." University of Texas Press, 2002 and 2010. pg 70
  5. Asa Wright Nature Center. Double-toothed Kite

References


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