CreatureData

Swallow-tailed kite

Elanoides forficatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

LCLeast Concernbirds of prey

The swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 416.2 g to 612 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus)
Photo: Andy Morffew from Itchen Abbas, Hampshire, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the swallow-tailed kite

Weight
416.2 g – 612 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
1.19 m – 1.36 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
28 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
1.4 – 2src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the swallow-tailed kite?

SWALLOW-TAILED KITE · WINGSPAN 1.36 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.36 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the swallow-tailed kite is about 80% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the swallow-tailed kite live?

Not recorded

What is the swallow-tailed kite?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus) is a pernine raptor which breeds from the southeastern United States to eastern Peru and northern Argentina. It is the only species in the genus Elanoides. Most North and Central American breeders winter in South America where the species is resident year round.

From the Wikipedia article “Swallow-tailed kite” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swallow-tailed_kite&oldid=1358250710), 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 swallow-tailed kite endangered?

The swallow-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 swallow-tailed kite classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderAccipitriformes
  5. familyAccipitridae
  6. genusElanoides
  7. SpeciesElanoides forficatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Elanoides forticatus, Elanus albicapillus, Elanus leucocephalus, Elanus nauclarus, Falco forficatus, Falco furcatus, Nauclerus furcatus

Other names and names in other languages (53)
  • American swallow-tailed kiteEnglish
  • Swallow-tailed hawkEnglish
  • حدأة ذات الذيل المتشعبArabic
  • Milà cuaforcatCatalan
  • milà de cua forcadaCatalan
  • luňák vlaštovčíCzech
  • barcud cynffonwennolWelsh
  • SvalehaleglenteDanish
  • SchwalbenweihGerman
  • SchwalbenweiheGerman
  • hirundovosta milvoEsperanto
  • Elanio tijeretaSpanish
  • Aguililla tijeretaSpanish
  • Gavilán Cola de TijeraSpanish
  • Halcón tijeretaSpanish
  • Milano tijeretaSpanish
  • pääsuhaugasEstonian
  • amerikansirohaukkaFinnish
  • Milan à queue fourchueFrench
  • Élanoïde à queue fourchueFrench
  • Naucler à queue fourchueFrench
  • Cúr gabhlánachIrish
  • Paganni-sizogcr
  • Taguato jetapaGuarani
  • דאה אמריקניתHebrew
  • lunja lastarkaCroatian
  • fecskekányaHungarian
  • Fecskefarkú kányaHungarian
  • Nibbio codaforcutaItalian
  • Nibbio americano codadirondineItalian
  • nibbio codadirondineItalian
  • ツバメトビJapanese
  • 제비꼬리솔개Korean
  • amerikinis kregždinis peslysLithuanian
  • dzirkļastes klījaLatvian
  • hachfalatkemik
  • ZwaluwstaartwouwDutch
  • svaleglenteNorwegian
  • Milnao Rab'i SouchiPapiamento
  • Milano Rab'i SwalchiPapiamento
  • jaskólakPolish
  • gavião-tesouraPortuguese
  • Вилохвостый коршунRussian
  • Ласточковый коршунRussian
  • koršun vidlochvostýSlovak
  • Lastorepa lunjaSerbian
  • svalstjärtsgladaSwedish
  • itapematpn
  • Kırlangıç Kuyruklu ÇaylakTurkish
  • лунь вилохвостийUkrainian
  • шуляк ластівкохвостийUkrainian
  • 燕尾鳶Chinese
  • 燕尾鸢Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the swallow-tailed kite

Other species in the same family Accipitridae.

LC, Least Concern
Black kite (Milvus migrans)

Black kite

Milvus migrans

Accipitridae

CompareSwallow-tailed kite vs Golden eagleSwallow-tailed kite vs Eurasian sparrowhawkSwallow-tailed kite vs Eurasian goshawkSwallow-tailed kite vs Black kite

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the swallow-tailed kite?

An adult swallow-tailed kite weighs 416.2 g – 612 g and has a wingspan of 1.19 m – 1.36 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the swallow-tailed kite endangered?

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

What kind of animal is the swallow-tailed kite?

The swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus) 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). Swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/swallow-tailed-kite

MLA

“Swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/swallow-tailed-kite.

BibTeX
@misc{swallow_tailed_kite_2026,
  title = {Swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/swallow-tailed-kite},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}