White-collared kite

The white-collared kite (Leptodon forbesi) is a South American raptor. It is endemic to northeastern Brazil.

White-collared kite
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Leptodon
Species:
L. forbesi
Binomial name
Leptodon forbesi
(Swann, 1922)
White-collared kite range

Description

The white-collared kite is 49–50 cm long and weighs 550–580 g. Adults have a grey head with a white hindneck, black upperparts, white underparts, and a grey tail with a very broad, black subterminal band and whitish tip. It is very similar to the more widespread grey-headed kite (L. cayanensis) and was often merged into it as a subspecies.

This species is classified as Critically Endangered. There have been very few sightings of it, and nothing is known of its feeding or breeding ecology. The areas in which it has been sighted, in coastal Alagoas, Pernambuco and Paraíba,[2] have been subject to massive deforestation. The current population is estimated at some 50–249 mature individuals .

The binomial commemorates the British zoologist William Alexander Forbes.

References
  1. BirdLife International. 2018. Leptodon forbesi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22724659A132176387. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22724659A132176387.en. Downloaded on 01 January 2019.
  2. http://www.avesderapinabrasil.com/leptodon_forbesi.htm
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