{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Use American English|date=December 2022}} {{Speciesbox | name = White-collared kite | image = Leptodon forbesi 2019.jpg | status = EN | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=White-collared Kite ''Leptodon forbesi'' |volume=2018 |article-number=e.T22724659A132176387 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22724659A132176387.en |access-date=8 December 2022}}</ref> | status2 = CITES_A2 | status2_system = CITES | status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}</ref> | genus = Leptodon | species = forbesi | authority = (Swann, 1922) | range_map = Leptodon_forbesi_map.png | range_map_caption = White-collared kite range }}
The '''white-collared kite''' ('''''Leptodon forbesi''''') is an endangered species of bird in the subfamily Perninae of the family Accipitridae, the diurnal raptors.<ref name=IUCN/><ref name=IOC12.2>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/raptors/ |title=Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors |website=IOC World Bird List |version =v 12.2 |editor-last1=Gill |editor-first1= F. |editor-last2=Donsker|editor-first2=D.|editor-last3=Rasmussen |editor-first3=P. |date=August 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2022 }}</ref><ref name="BirdsofPrey2018">{{cite book | last1 = Mindell | first1 = M. D.| last2 = Fuchs | first2 = J. | last3 = Johnson | first3 = J. A. | year = 2018 | chapter = Phylogeny, Taxonomy, and Geographic Diversity of Diurnal Raptors: Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, and Cathartiformes | editor1-last = Sarasola | editor1-first = J.| editor2-last = Grande | editor2-first = J. | editor3-last = Negro | editor3-first = J. | title = Birds of Prey: Biology and conservation in the XXI century | publisher = Springer, Chame | pages = 3–32 |isbn = 978-3-319-73745-4 | doi = 10.1007/978-3-319-73745-4_1}}</ref> It is endemic to northeastern Brazil.<ref name=IOC12.2/>
==Taxonomy and systematics==
Until the early 2000s the white-collared kite was considered an aberrant plumage of the grey-headed kite (''L. cayanensis'') but morphological and other evidence strongly support its treatment as a full species.<ref name=SACClist>Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022</ref> It is monotypic.<ref name=IOC12.2/>
The species' specific epithet commemorates the British zoologist William Alexander Forbes.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}
==Description==
The white-collared kite is about {{convert|50|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and weighs {{convert|550|to|580|g|lb|sigfig=2|abbr=on}}. Adults usually have a grey head with a white hindneck, but sometimes only the crown is gray and in other individuals the entire head is white. They have black upperparts, white underparts, and a black tail with a whitish tip and a broad ash-white band in the middle (or two white bands with a narrow black one between them). Their scapulars, secondaries, and inner primaries have broad white tips that are typically reduced or lost through wear.<ref name=WCKI-BOW>Bierregaard, R. O., D. A. Christie, G. M. Kirwan, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). White-collared Kite (''Leptodon forbesi''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whckit1.01 retrieved December 8, 2022</ref>
==Distribution and habitat==
The white-collared kite is found only in parts of four states of northeastern Brazil: eastern Paraíba, eastern Pernambuco, eastern Alagoas, and southern Sergipe. It primarily inhabits the Atlantic forest though it has been spotted over mangroves. In elevation it occurs from near sea level to {{convert|600|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name=WCKI-BOW/>
==Behavior== ===Movement===
The white-collared kite is mostly sedentary but has been seen flying over sugar cane fields between isolated forest patches.<ref name=WCKI-BOW/>
===Feeding===
Essentially nothing is known about the white-collared kite's hunting methods or diet. During the one documented observation the bird swooped from a perch, caught prey thought to be an insect, and returned to the same perch.<ref name=WCKI-BOW/>
===Breeding===
The white-collared kite's breeding biology is almost unknown. Single birds and pairs have been observed making fluttering "butterfly" display flights between October and January, and an active nest was found in April.<ref name=WCKI-BOW/>
{{birdsong|url=https://xeno-canto.org/species/Leptodon-forbesi |species=white-collared kite}}
===Vocalization===
The white-collared kite makes a flight call "kua-kua-kua-kua" and "a cat-like 'eeeAAW'" during the display flight.<ref name=WCKI-BOW/>
==Status==
The IUCN originally assessed the white-collared kite as Critically Endangered but since 2017 has rated it Endangered. It has a very small and fragmented range and its estimated population of between 250 and 1000 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. Most of its original habitat has been cleared, primarily for agriculture, and small-scale logging continues in some of the remaining fragments.<ref name=IUCN/> It is known from only about 30 sites, some of which are private preserves. Brazilian authorities consider it Endangered.<ref name=WCKI-BOW/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== {{Commons category|Leptodon forbesi}} {{Wikispecies|Leptodon forbesi}} *{{Cite web|title=Gavião-de-pescoço-branco (''Leptodon forbesi'') {{!}} Aves de Rapina Brasil|url=http://www.avesderapinabrasil.com/leptodon_forbesi.htm|language=pt| website=www.avesderapinabrasil.com}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1260180}}
white-collared kite Category:Birds of the Atlantic Forest Category:Endangered animals Category:Endangered biota of South America white-collared kite white-collared kite