Elanoides forficatus
Silhouette: Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus) is a pernine raptor which breeds from the southeastern United States to eastern Peru and northern Argentina. It is the only species in the genus Elanoides. Most North and Central American breeders winter in South America where the species is resident year round.
The swallow-tailed kite was first described as the "swallow-tail hawk" and "accipiter cauda furcata" (forked-tail hawk) by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in 1731. It was given the binomial scientific name Falco forficatus by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, published in 1758; he changed this to Falco furcatus in the 12th edition of 1766. The latter spelling was used widely during the 18th and 19th centuries, but the original spelling has precedence. The genus Elanoides was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1818. The name is from Ancient Greek elanos for "kite" and -oides for "resembling".
The species is 50 to 68 cm (20 to 27 in) in length, with a wingspan of approximately 1.12–1.36 m (3.7–4.5 ft). Male and female individuals appear similar. The body weight is 310–600 g (11–21... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 3 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 6 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an American Swallow-tailed Kite sighting in Braulio Carrillo National Park on a given day, based on 239 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 230th most-seen of the 505 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March, May and July–September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an American Swallow-tailed Kite in Braulio Carrillo National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, June and October–February, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most American Swallow-tailed Kite sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
32nd of 64
Of the 64 parks where we can rate American Swallow-tailed Kite sightings, Braulio Carrillo National Park ranks 32nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Brownsberg Nature Park (Suriname, about 70%), Chagres National Park (Panama, about 40%) and Emas National Park (Brazil, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the American Swallow-tailed Kite that you can see in Braulio Carrillo National Park (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Broad-winged Hawk (about 10%), Roadside Hawk (about 10%) and Gray-lined Hawk (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the American Swallow-tailed Kite is recorded against all the birds logged in Braulio Carrillo National Park (239 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
