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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an American Swallow-tailed Kite sighting in Iguazú National Park on a given day, based on 241 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 176th most-seen of the 343 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.
October
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an American Swallow-tailed Kite in Iguazú National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to July, the lowest months. That is one of Iguazú National Park's wettest months, with about 240 mm of rain against 90 mm in August.
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.
34th of 64
Of the 64 parks where we can rate American Swallow-tailed Kite sightings, Iguazú National Park ranks 34th at under 5%. 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 Iguazú National Park (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Roadside Hawk (about 30%), Plumbeous Kite (about 20%) and Snail Kite (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 Iguazú National Park (241 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.
