CreatureData

Square-tailed kite

Lophoictinia isura (Gould, 1838)

LCLeast Concernbirds of prey

The square-tailed kite (Lophoictinia isura) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 501 g to 670 g and live up to 17 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Square-tailed kite (Lophoictinia isura)
Photo: Aviceda · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the square-tailed kite

Weight
501 g – 670 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
1.31 m – 1.46 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
17 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

How big is the square-tailed kite?

SQUARE-TAILED KITE · WINGSPAN 1.46 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.46 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the square-tailed kite is about 86% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the square-tailed 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 square-tailed kite is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the square-tailed kite?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The square-tailed kite (Lophoictinia isura) is a medium-sized bird of prey native to Australia. It is in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, eagles and harriers.

From the Wikipedia article “Square-tailed kite” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Square-tailed_kite&oldid=1379734709), 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 square-tailed kite endangered?

The square-tailed kite is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the square-tailed kite classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderAccipitriformes
  5. familyAccipitridae
  6. genusLophoictinia
  7. SpeciesLophoictinia isura (Gould, 1838)

Synonyms Milvus isura westraliensis, Milvus isurus

Other names and names in other languages (34)
  • حدأة مربعة الذيلArabic
  • milà cuaquadratCatalan
  • luňák australskýCzech
  • luňákovec australskýCzech
  • barcud cynffonsgwarWelsh
  • GlentevågeDanish
  • MilanweihGerman
  • SchopfmilanGerman
  • kvadratvosta milvoEsperanto
  • Milano colicuadradoSpanish
  • munahaugasEstonian
  • leijahaukkaFinnish
  • Milan à queue carréeFrench
  • Bondrée à queue carréeFrench
  • riđotrba lunjaCroatian
  • kontyos kányaHungarian
  • Nibbio codaquadraItalian
  • シラガトビJapanese
  • 네모꼬리솔개Korean
  • kampuotuodegis peslysLithuanian
  • KortstaartwouwDutch
  • langvingeglenteNorwegian
  • kanialec czubatyPolish
  • milhafre-de-rabo-quadradoPortuguese
  • milhafre-de-cauda-quadradaPortuguese
  • Чубатый коршунRussian
  • koršun svetlohlavýSlovak
  • včelárovec svetlohlavýSlovak
  • tvärstjärtsgladaSwedish
  • tvärstjärtad gladaSwedish
  • Düz Kuyruklu ÇaylakTurkish
  • шуліка довгокрилийUkrainian
  • 方尾鳶Chinese
  • 方尾鸢Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the square-tailed kite

Other species in the same family Accipitridae.

LC, Least Concern
Black kite (Milvus migrans)

Black kite

Milvus migrans

Accipitridae

CompareSquare-tailed kite vs Golden eagleSquare-tailed kite vs Eurasian sparrowhawkSquare-tailed kite vs Eurasian goshawkSquare-tailed kite vs Black kite

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the square-tailed kite?

An adult square-tailed kite weighs 501 g – 670 g and has a wingspan of 1.31 m – 1.46 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the square-tailed kite live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the square-tailed kite for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the square-tailed kite endangered?

The square-tailed kite is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the square-tailed kite live?

The square-tailed kite has a recorded lifespan of 17 years.

What kind of animal is the square-tailed kite?

The square-tailed kite (Lophoictinia isura) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Square-tailed kite (Lophoictinia isura). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/square-tailed-kite

MLA

“Square-tailed kite (Lophoictinia isura).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/square-tailed-kite.

BibTeX
@misc{square_tailed_kite_2026,
  title = {Square-tailed kite (Lophoictinia isura)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/square-tailed-kite},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}