Elanus leucurus
Silhouette: Catherine Yasuda · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The white-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus) is a small raptor found in South America and parts of western North America. It replaces the related Old World black-winged kite in its native range. The white-tailed kite was described in 1818 by French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot under the binomial name Milvus leucurus, with the type locality as Paraguay. It is now one of four species in the genus Elanus, which was introduced in 1809 by French zoologist Jules-César Savigny. The word Elanus is from Ancient Greek elanos for a "kite". The specific epithet leucurus is from the Ancient Greek leukouros for "white-tailed": leukos is "white" and oura is "tail".
For some recent decades, it was lumped with the black-winged kite of Europe and Africa as Elanus caeruleus and was collectively called black-shouldered kite.[4] However, the American Ornithologists' Union accepted a more recent argument that the white-tailed kite differed from the Old World species in size, shape, plumage, and behavior, and that these differences were sufficient to warrant full species status.[5] Thus, the white-tailed kite was returned to its original name. Meanwhile, the Old World E. caeruleus is once... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 5 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 6 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 10 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California Raptor Center | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Orange County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Lindsay Wildlife Experience | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Cascades Raptor Center | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-tailed Kite sighting in Poás Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 46 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 188th most-seen of the 356 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-tailed Kite in Poás Volcano National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-tailed Kite sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
19th of 37
Of the 37 parks where we can rate White-tailed Kite sightings, Poás Volcano National Park ranks 19th at under 5%. The best odds are in Emas National Park (Brazil, about 20%), Everglades National Park (United States, about 10%) and Lago de Yojoa (Honduras, about 10%).
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the White-tailed Kite that you can see in Poás Volcano National Park (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Short-tailed Hawk (about 10%), Barred Hawk (about 10%) and American Swallow-tailed Kite (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-tailed Kite is recorded against all the birds logged in Poás Volcano National Park (46 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.
