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The gray-headed kite (''Leptodon cayanensis'') is a
raptor Raptor or RAPTOR may refer to: Animals The word "raptor" refers to several groups of bird-like dinosaurs which primarily capture and subdue/kill prey with their talons. * Raptor (bird) or bird of prey, a bird that primarily hunts and feeds on ...
found in open woodland and swamp forests. It shares the genus ''Leptodon'' with the extremely rare
white-collared kite The white-collared kite (''Leptodon forbesi'') is an Endangered species of bird in tribe Pernini and subfamily Perninae of family Accipitridae, the diurnal raptors. It is endemic to northeastern Brazil. Taxonomy and systematics Until the ear ...
. It breeds from eastern
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and
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south to
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, Bolivia,
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and northern
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.


Description

The gray-headed kite is 46–53 cm in length and weighs 410-605 g. The adult has a grey head, black upperparts, white underparts, and a black tail with two or three white bars. The bill is blue and the legs grey. The flight is a deliberate ''flap-flap-glide''. Immature birds have three colour morphs; the light phase is similar to the adult, but has a white head and neck, with a black crown and eyestripe, black bill and yellow legs, closely resembling the Black and White Hawk-eagle (''Spizaetus melanoleucus''). The rufous phase has a reddish neck with a white throat, black malar stripes and a black, long crest closely resembling the adult Ornate Hawk-eagle (''Spizaetus ornatus''). The dark phase has a blackish head, neck and upper parts, and dark-streaked buff underparts. The sophistication in the mimicry of these juveniles is remarkable and has only been described a few times.


Ecology

The gray-headed kite feeds mainly on reptiles, but also takes frogs and large insects. It usually sits on an open high perch from which it swoops on its prey. The call is a mewling ''keow''. The nest is made of sticks lined with grass and is built high in a tree. The clutch is one or two white eggs, purplish at one end and spotted brown.


References


Further reading

* * * ''A guide to the birds of Costa Rica'' by Stiles and Skutch {{Taxonbar, from=Q1260051 gray-headed kite Birds of Central America Birds of South America gray-headed kite