Their population gradually rebounded after the invasive snail species Pomacea maculata began to flourish in the Everglades wetlands and served as a new food source for the snail kites, reaching a count of 3,000 snail kites in 2022. The snail kite continued to decline, reaching a population of less than 800 in 2007. In the Everglades ĭue to the drainage and habitat destruction of the Everglades, they were one of the first species put on the US Fish and Wildlife Service's endangered species list on 11 March 1967. Pomacea flagellata apple snails were propagated in El Salvador between 19 as food for fish stocks, and it seems that the widespread presence of high numbers of these snails has not gone unnoticed by the snail kite. In El Salvador, the species can be observed during the winter months at Embalse Cerrón Grande, Laguna El Jocotal, and especially Lago de Güija. On the other hand, most records are outside the breeding season, more indicative of post-breeding dispersal. Since then, it has been regularly sighted, including immature birds, suggesting a resident breeding population might already exist in that country. In El Salvador, it was first recorded in 1996. In fact, it might be locally increasing in numbers, such as in Central America. However, this species is not generally threatened over its extensive range. Research has demonstrated that water-level control in the Everglades is depleting the population of apple snails. The snail kite is a locally endangered species in the Florida Everglades, with a population of less than 400 breeding pairs. It nests in a bush or on the ground, laying three to four eggs.Ĭonservation Adult male Everglades snail kite in Joe Overstreet Landing, Florida. It is resident all-year round in most of its range, but the southernmost population migrates north in winter and the Caribbean birds disperse widely outside the breeding season. The snail kite breeds in tropical South America, the Caribbean, and central and southern Florida in the United States. They concluded that Rostrhamus belonged in Buteoninae (sensu stricto) and not in Milvinae, but noted that more investigation was needed. sociabilis sister to Geranospiza caerulescens, and that those two along with Ictinea plumbea were basal to both the Buteogallus and Buteo clades. ![]() For this reason, it is considered a molluscivore. It flies slowly with its head facing downwards, looking for its main food, the large apple snails. Adults have red or orangish-brown irises, while juveniles have dark brown irises. The juvenile is similar to an adult female, but the crown is streaked. She has a whitish face with darker areas behind and above the eye. The adult female has dark brown upperparts and heavily streaked pale underparts. The adult male has dark blue-gray plumage with darker flight feathers. The tarsus is relatively long as well, measuring 3.6–5.7 cm (1.4–2.2 in). The dark, deeply hooked beak, measuring 2.9–4 cm (1.1–1.6 in) is an adaptation to its diet. Its tail is long, at 16–21 cm (6.3–8.3 in), with a white rump and undertail coverts. They have long, broad, and rounded wings, which measure 29–33 cm (11–13 in) each. There is very limited sexual dimorphism, with the female averaging only 3% larger than the male. ![]() Usually, it is placed in the milvine kites, but the validity of that grouping is under investigation. Its relative, the slender-billed kite, is now again placed in Helicolestes, making the genus Rostrhamus monotypic. The snail kite ( Rostrhamus sociabilis) is a bird of prey within the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles, hawks, and Old World vultures.
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