Letter-winged kite
Elanus scriptus Gould, 1842
NTNear Threatenedbirds of prey
The letter-winged kite (Elanus scriptus) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 288.6 g to 343 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.
Quick facts about the letter-winged kite
- Weight
- 288.6 g – 343 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 84 cm – 89 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the letter-winged kite?
Where does the letter-winged kite live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The letter-winged kite is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Why a country list is not a range map
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the letter-winged kite?
The letter-winged kite (Elanus scriptus) is a small, rare and irruptive bird of prey that is found only in Australia. Measuring around 35 cm (14 in) in length with a wingspan of 84–100 cm (33–39 in), the adult letter-winged kite has predominantly pale grey and white plumage and prominent black rings around its red eyes. Its name derives from its highly distinctive black underwing pattern of a shallow 'M' or 'W' shape, visible when in flight. This distinguishes it from the otherwise similar black-shouldered kite. This species is also the only nocturnal species within the order Accipitriformes despite few differences found in its visual anatomy to other closely related kites.
The species begins breeding in response to rodent outbreaks, with pairs nesting in loose colonies of up to 50 birds each. Three to four eggs are laid and incubated for around thirty days, though the eggs may be abandoned if the food source disappears. Chicks are fledged within five weeks of hatching. Roosting in well-foliaged trees during the day, the letter-winged kite hunts mostly at night. It is a specialist predator of rodents, which it hunts by hovering above grasslands and fields. It is rated as near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Threatened Species.
From the Wikipedia article “Letter-winged kite” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Letter-winged_kite&oldid=1359417074), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the letter-winged kite endangered?
The letter-winged kite is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.
How is the letter-winged kite classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyAccipitridae
- genusElanus
- SpeciesElanus scriptus Gould, 1842
Synonyms Elanus sciptus, Elanus scriptus victorianus
Other names and names in other languages (37)
- حدأة حرفية الجناحينArabic
- elani marcatCatalan
- luněc černoramennýCzech
- barcud patrymogWelsh
- Sortbåndet GlenteDanish
- SchwarzachselaarGerman
- Schwarzachsel-GleitaarGerman
- leterflugila elanioEsperanto
- Elanio escritoSpanish
- Milano escritoSpanish
- öö-hõbehaugasEstonian
- yöliitohaukkaFinnish
- Élanion écritFrench
- Élanion lettréFrench
- prugokrila lunjaCroatian
- éjjeli kuhiHungarian
- Nibbio scrittoItalian
- Nibbio bianco alisegnateItalian
- クロオビトビJapanese
- 검은겨드랑솔개Korean
- raštuotasparnis palšasis peslysLithuanian
- LetterwouwDutch
- skriftglenteNorwegian
- kaniuk stepowyPolish
- peneireiro-escritoPortuguese
- peneireiro-cinzento-d'asa-pretaPortuguese
- peneireiro-d'asa-escritaPortuguese
- peneireiro-de-asas-cinzentasPortuguese
- Чернополосый коршунRussian
- Буквокрылый дымчатый коршунRussian
- luniak popolavýSlovak
- Noćna lunjaSerbian
- nattgladaSwedish
- Şeritli Ak ÇaylakTurkish
- шуліка чорнокрилийUkrainian
- 紋翅鳶Chinese
- 纹翅鸢Chinese
Relatives of the letter-winged kite
Other species in the same genus Elanus.
Black-winged kite
Elanus caeruleus
Black-shouldered kite
Elanus axillaris
White-tailed kite
Elanus leucurus
CompareLetter-winged kite vs Black-winged kiteLetter-winged kite vs Black-shouldered kiteLetter-winged kite vs White-tailed kite
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the letter-winged kite?
An adult letter-winged kite weighs 288.6 g – 343 g and has a wingspan of 84 cm – 89 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the letter-winged kite live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the letter-winged kite for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the letter-winged kite endangered?
The letter-winged kite is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.
What kind of animal is the letter-winged kite?
The letter-winged kite (Elanus scriptus) belongs to the family Accipitridae in the order Accipitriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Letter-winged kite (Elanus scriptus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/letter-winged-kite
“Letter-winged kite (Elanus scriptus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/letter-winged-kite.
@misc{letter_winged_kite_2026,
title = {Letter-winged kite (Elanus scriptus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/letter-winged-kite},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}