Hook-billed kite. © barloventomagico/ Flickr
Chondrohierax uncinatus
Males have dark gray plumage above, disallowed white-and-gray plumes on their chest and stomach, and a tail with broad bands of black and white. The birds most striking feature is its large, connected expense, combined with intense yellow and blue-green lores (the skin in between a birds costs and eye).
Hook-billed kites have just recently expanded their variety into the United States.
Hook-billed Kite
The hook-billed kite is one heck of a bird. It looks like a hawk with the plumage of a cuckoo and the expense of a parrot..
Males have dark gray plumage above, disallowed white-and-gray plumes on their chest and stomach, and a tail with broad bands of white and black. Women are similarly patterned, other than with brown and cheastnut shades. The birds most striking feature is its large, connected bill, coupled with intense yellow and blue-green lores (the skin between a birds costs and eye).
The size of a hook-billed kites expense can differ rather a bit between people, and these differences arent associated with age or sex. According to the Cornell Lab, researchers believe that the two sizes help in reducing competitors between birds, with birds targeting snail types that fit their expenses.
Hook-billed kites have just recently expanded their range into the United States. The types was first seen in the far southern suggestion of Texas in 1964 and has been a routine homeowner given that the mid 1970s. The United States population is little, making the hook-billed kite a tough bird to discover..
Hook-billed kites are much more numerous in Mexico, Central and South America, though their populations are declining due to habitat loss and the introduction of non-native snails. Numerous non-native snails are too big for the birds to eat, and larger snails also take advantage of smaller snail species, reducing prey populations for the kites..
Look for them along the Rio Grande, where they hunt along woody streams, moving branch to branch in the forest canopy, searching for tree snails.