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The Cuban kite (Chondrohierax wilsonii) is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, eagles and harriers. It is endemic to Cuba.
| Cuban kite | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Chondrohierax |
| Species: | C. wilsonii |
| Binomial name | |
| Chondrohierax wilsonii (Cassin, 1847) | |
This species is classified as critically endangered by BirdLife International and the IUCN. The current population is estimated 50 to 249 mature birds. In the last 40 years the species has only been observed a handful of times with the latest published sighting in 2010 in Alejandro de Humboldt National Park.[1]
The Clements Checklist considered it as subspecies of the hook-billed kite until its 2022 revision.[2] A molecular phylogenetics analysis using mitochondrial DNA suggests that it warrants species status having diverged from the mainland lineage approximately 400,000 to 1.5 million years ago.[3]
Forest destruction and degradation is the leading cause of population decline, as well as the reduction in prey snail numbers and persecution by local farmers. Its apparently tame nature makes it an easy target for shooters.[4]
The Cuban kite is a little smaller than the hook-billed kite. Males have gray upperparts, black bars on the tail, and the underparts evenly barred grayish and white. Females resemble the Grenada form of hook-billed kite, but the brown barring on the underparts is less rufescent. The bill of Cuban kite is yellowish, in contrast to hook-billed kite's mostly dark bill.[5]
Cuban kites feed on colored tree snails and slugs, which they find in the forest undergrowth, for which the deeply hooked bill is thought to be adapted for.[4][3]
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