Snail kite - WikiHQ

The snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) is a bird of prey within the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles, hawks, and Old World vultures. Its relative, the slender-billed kite, is now again placed in Helicolestes, making the genus Rostrhamus monotypic. Usually, it is placed in the Milvine kites, but the validity of that grouping is under investigation.

Taxonomy

Lerner and Mindell (2005) found R. sociabilis sister to Geranospiza caerulescens, and that those two along with Ictinea plumbea were basal to both the Buteogallus and Buteo clades. They concluded that Rostrhamus belonged in Buteoninae (sensu stricto) and not in Milvinae, but noted that more investigation was needed.

It flies slowly with its head facing downwards, looking for its main food, the large apple snails. For this reason, it is considered a molluscivore.

Breeding

It nests in a bush or on the ground, laying three to four eggs.

Conservation

thumb|left|Adult male Everglades snail kite in Joe Overstreet Landing, Florida.

The snail kite is a locally endangered species in the Florida Everglades, with a population of less than 400 breeding pairs. Research has demonstrated that water-level control in the Everglades is depleting the population of apple snails. on 11 March 1967. The snail kite continued to decline, reaching a population of less than 800 in 2007. One factor for the decline in the 2000s was the introduction of the invasive South American snail Pomacea maculata, which were five times bigger than the native Pomacea paludosa species, and most kites could not eat the new snails. However, the kites quickly evolved to be 12% bigger to adapt to the new food source. This population gradually rebounded, reaching a count of 3,000 snail kites in 2022. Everglades conservation efforts over the course of 30 years and costing over US$20 billion also contributed to restoring native vegetation of the snail kites' habitats and flow of water in marshes.

Snail kites have been observed eating other prey items in Florida, including other freshwater snail species (such as the banded mystery snail), crayfish in the genus Procambarus, crabs in the genera Dilocarcinus and Poppiana (P. dentata), black crappie, ring-necked snakes, small turtles (including the common musk turtle, striped mud turtle, coastal plain cooter, Florida red-bellied cooter, Florida softshell turtle, and other unidentified species), rodents and carcasses (based only on a single reported case of a dead American coot). It is believed that snail kites turn to these alternatives only when apple snails become scarce, such as during drought, These non-native snails provide a better food source than the smaller native snails and have had a positive effect on the kites' populations.

Predation

In Florida, snail kites may be eaten by some growth stage of invasive snakes such as Burmese pythons, reticulated pythons, Southern African rock pythons, Central African rock pythons, boa constrictors, yellow anacondas, Bolivian anacondas, dark-spotted anacondas, and green anacondas.

References

External links

Snail Kite Information at Great Florida Birding & Wildlife Trail