The pearl kite (''Gampsonyx swainsonii'') is a very small

raptor Raptor(s) or RAPTOR may refer to: Animals The word "raptor" refers to several groups of avian and non-avian dinosaurs which primarily capture and subdue/kill prey with their talons. * Raptor (bird) or bird of prey, a bird that primarily hunt ...

found in open savanna habitat adjacent to deciduous woodland in Central and South America. It is the only member of the genus ''Gampsonyx''. The scientific name commemorates the English naturalist

William Swainson William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swains ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The type specimen was collected from Brazil by English naturalist William Swainson, and described by

Nicholas Aylward Vigors Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Ireland, Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow, in 1 ...

in 1825. Vigors noted the similarity to both hawks and falcons, but placed ''Gampsonyx'' within the "Accipitrine subfamily" because it lacks the notched beak of the falcons. He also noted its striking resemblance to the coloration of the

falconets The typical falconets, ''Microhierax'', are a bird of prey genus in the family Falconidae. They are found in southeast Asia and the smallest members of Falconiformes, averaging about in length and in weight. The smallest members of the genus ar ...

. Later, the pearl kite was classified with the falcons. For example, Peters placed it with the forest falcons in subfamily Polyhieracinae. In the mid-20th century it was found to be related to ''

Elanus ''Elanus'' is a genus of bird of prey in the Elaninae, elanine kite subfamily. It was introduced by the French zoologist Marie Jules César Savigny, Jules-César Savigny in 1809 with the black-winged kite (''Elanus caeruleus'') as the type specie ...

'' based on morphology and its molt schedule.

Distribution and habitat

This tiny

kite A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have ...

breeds from Panama, Colombia and Venezuela south to Bolivia and northern Argentina, with an isolated sedentary population in Nicaragua. It is expanding its range and was proved to breed on

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

in 1970. It was first reported in Costa Rica in the mid-1990s, and now is fairly common along Pacific slope, to 1000m.

Description

The pearl kite is in length and weighs . It is the smallest raptor in the Americas and one of the two smallest

accipitrids The Accipitridae () is one of the four families within the order Accipitriformes, and is a family of small to large birds of prey with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects to ...

in the world (besides the

little sparrowhawk The little sparrowhawk (''Tachyspiza minulla'') is a species of Afrotropical bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Accipiter''. It is the smallest member of the genus ''Tachyspiza'' and forms a superspecie ...

). The tiny hawk, another

neotropic The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

al species, attains a slightly higher weight than the pearl kite. The adult has a black crown, upperparts, wing and tail, a rufous edged white collar, yellow forehead and cheeks, mainly white underparts, and yellow legs. Immature birds are similar to the adults but have white and chestnut tips to the back and wing feathers, a buff collar and some buff on the white underparts. In flight this species looks mainly black above and white below. The northern form ''G. s. leonae'' differs from the nominate ''G. s. swainsonii'' in that it has rufous flanks.

Behaviour

Breeding

The nest is a deep cup of sticks built high in a tree. The clutch is 2-4 brown-marked white eggs, incubated mainly by the female for 34–35 days to hatching, with a further five weeks to fledging. There may be two broods in a season.

Feeding

The pearl kite feeds mainly on

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

s, such as the ''

Anolis ''Anolis'' is a genus of anoles (), iguanian lizards in the family Dactyloidae, native to the Americas. With more than 425 species, it represents the world's most species-rich amniote tetrapod genus, although many of these have been proposed to b ...

'' and

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates. They range from . Geckos are unique among lizards ...

s. Its most common prey is the ''

Microlophus occipitalis ''Microlophus occipitalis'', colloquially known as the knobbed Pacific iguana, is a lizard included within the Tropiduridae family. It is a member of the ''Microlophus'' genus and thus also considered a lava lizard. The knobbed Pacific iguana is ...

''. It also takes small

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s (such as

ruddy ground dove The ruddy ground dove (''Columbina talpacoti'') is a small New World tropical dove. It is a resident breeder from Mexico south to Brazil, Peru and Paraguay, and northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago. Individual birds can sometimes be see ...

s),

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

s and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s (such as

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests. Modern cockro ...

es); it usually sits on a high open perch from which it swoops on its prey. The call is a high musical ''pip-pip-pip-pip'' or ''kitty-kitty-kitty''.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Pearl Kite videos
on the Internet Bird Collection

VIREO ttp://vireo.acnatsci.org/species_image.php?species=Gampsonyx+swainsonii Photo-High Res* *
Illustration
plate IX in ''The Genera of Birds'', 2ed. vol. 1 (G. R. Gray, 1849)
Synonymy
in ''Catalogue of the Accipitres or Diurnal Birds of Prey in the British Museum'', (Sharpe 1874). {{Taxonbar, from1=Q1047238, from2=Q10760608

pearl kite The pearl kite (''Gampsonyx swainsonii'') is a very small raptor found in open savanna habitat adjacent to deciduous woodland in Central and South America. It is the only member of the genus ''Gampsonyx''. The scientific name commemorates the En ...

Birds of the Guiana Shield Birds of Brazil Birds of the Amazon rainforest Birds of Trinidad and Tobago Birds of Nicaragua Birds of Costa Rica Birds of Panama Birds of prey of South America