Snail Kite Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A distinctively shaped, medium-sized raptor with broad, almost paddle-shaped wings, a long, broad tail, long legs, and a thin, hooked bill.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Mississippi Kite, smaller than an Osprey.

  between crow and goose

  Measurements

  • Male
  • • Length: 14.2-15.3 in (36-39 cm)
    • Weight: 12.7-15.5 oz (360-440 g)
    • Wingspan: 42.9-45.7 in (109-116 cm)
  • Female
  • • Length: 14.6-15.6 in (37-39.5 cm)
    • Weight: 12.3-20.1 oz (350-570 g)

  © Tom Johnson / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Adult males are dark gray with darker wings and a black tail with white at the base. Males have pinkish-red skin around the bill. Females are similar but browner, with whitish feathering around the face. Juveniles are brown above, streaked brown and buff below, with extensively buffy throat and eyebrow.

• Behavior

  Forages by flying slowly above marshy areas and open water, dropping to seize snails, usually in shallow areas. Breeds in colonies around freshwater lakes, sometimes near other colonial waterbirds. Often rests, roosts, soars, and forages in loose flocks of several to dozens of birds.
• Habitat

  Nests and forages year-round in freshwater wetlands of southern Florida, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.