CreatureData

White-tailed kite

Elanus leucurus (Vieillot, 1818)

LCLeast Concernbirds of prey

The white-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 274 g to 346 g and live up to 5.9 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

White-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus)
Photo: Greg Schechter · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the white-tailed kite

Weight
274 g – 346 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
94 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
5.9 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
6 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
human_modifiedsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
30 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
3.9 – 4src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
23.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the white-tailed kite?

WHITE-TAILED KITE · WINGSPAN 94 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 94 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the white-tailed kite is about 55% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the white-tailed kite live?

Not recorded

What is the white-tailed kite?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The white-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus) is a small raptor found in South America and parts of western North America. It replaces the related Old World black-winged kite in its native range.

From the Wikipedia article “White-tailed kite” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White-tailed_kite&oldid=1380711905), 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 white-tailed kite endangered?

The white-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 white-tailed kite classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderAccipitriformes
  5. familyAccipitridae
  6. genusElanus
  7. SpeciesElanus leucurus (Vieillot, 1818)

Synonyms Milvus leucurus

Other names and names in other languages (52)
  • حدأة أبيض الذيلArabic
  • Elani cuablancCatalan
  • elani de cua blancaCatalan
  • luněc americkýCzech
  • barcud cynffonwynWelsh
  • Hvidhalet GlenteDanish
  • WeißschwanzaarGerman
  • Weißschwanz-GleitaarGerman
  • blankvosta elanioEsperanto
  • Elanio maromeroSpanish
  • Aguililla blancaSpanish
  • BailarínSpanish
  • Elanio ColiblancoSpanish
  • Espíritu santoSpanish
  • Gavilán bailarínSpanish
  • Gavilán maromeroSpanish
  • Halcón BlancoSpanish
  • Milano blancoSpanish
  • Milano cola blancaSpanish
  • ameerika hõbehaugasEstonian
  • amerikanliitohaukkaFinnish
  • Élanion à queue blancheFrench
  • Elanion à queue blancheFrench
  • Taguato morotîGuarani
  • bjelorepa lunjaCroatian
  • amerikai kuhiHungarian
  • Nibbio codabiancaItalian
  • オジロトビJapanese
  • 흰꼬리솔개Korean
  • baltauodegis palšasis peslysLithuanian
  • baltastes klījaLatvian
  • WitstaartbastaardwouwDutch
  • Amerikaanse Grijze WouwDutch
  • hvithaleglenteNorwegian
  • TishiPapiamento
  • Milano Rabo BlancoPapiamento
  • Milano Rabu BlankuPapiamento
  • TeishiPapiamento
  • kaniuk amerykańskiPolish
  • Gaviao-peneiraPortuguese
  • gavião-peneiraPortuguese
  • peneireiro-cinzento-americanoPortuguese
  • peneireiro-de-cauda-brancaPortuguese
  • Белохвостый коршунRussian
  • Белохвостый дымчатый коршунRussian
  • luniak bielochvostýSlovak
  • Belorepa lunjaSerbian
  • vitstjärtad gladaSwedish
  • Amerika Ak ÇaylağıTurkish
  • шуліка білохвостийUkrainian
  • 白尾鳶Chinese
  • 白尾鸢Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the white-tailed kite

Other species in the same genus Elanus.

CompareWhite-tailed kite vs Black-winged kiteWhite-tailed kite vs Black-shouldered kiteWhite-tailed kite vs Letter-winged kite

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the white-tailed kite?

An adult white-tailed kite weighs 274 g – 346 g and has a wingspan of 94 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the white-tailed kite endangered?

The white-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 white-tailed kite live?

The white-tailed kite has a recorded lifespan of 5.9 years.

What kind of animal is the white-tailed kite?

The white-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus) 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). White-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-tailed-kite

MLA

“White-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-tailed-kite.

BibTeX
@misc{white_tailed_kite_2026,
  title = {White-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-tailed-kite},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}