Milvus
{{Short description|Genus of bird}}
{{About|the bird|the range of Zeiss lenses|Zeiss Milvus|the database|Milvus (vector database)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Milvus migrans front(ThKraft).jpg
| image_caption = Black kite, (Milvus migrans)
| taxon = Milvus
| authority = Lacépède, 1799
| type_species = Falco milvus
| type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
See text for discussion
}}
Milvus is a genus of medium-sized birds of prey. The genus was erected by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799 with the red kite as the type species.{{ cite book | last=Lacépède | first=Bernard Germain de | author-link=Bernard Germain de Lacépède | year=1799 | title=Discours d'ouverture et de clôture du cours d'histoire naturelle | chapter=Tableau des sous-classes, divisions, sous-division, ordres et genres des oiseux | language=French | publisher=Plassan | place=Paris | page=4 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6uhAAAAAcAAJ&pg=RA3-PA4 }} Page numbering starts at one for each of the three sections.{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=296 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108936 }} The name is the Latin word for the red kite.{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n255 255]}}
The genus Milvus has in the past been placed in the subfamily Milvinae but molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that such a grouping is polyphyletic for Buteoninae. It is now placed in the subfamily Buteoninae.{{Cite book | last1=Mindell | first1=D. | last2=Fuchs | first2=J. | last3=Johnson | first3=J. | date=2018 | chapter=Phylogeny, taxonomy, and geographic diversity of diurnal raptors: Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, and Cathartiformes | editor1-last=Sarasola | editor1-first=J.H. | editor2-last=Grange | editor2-first=J.M. | editor3-last=Negro | editor3-first=J.J. | title=Birds of Prey: Biology and conservation in the XXI century | location=Cham, Switzerland | publisher=Springer | isbn=978-3-319-73744-7 | pages=3–32 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326086278 }}{{Cite journal | last1=Catanach | first1=T.A. | last2=Halley | first2=M.R. | last3=Pirro | first3=S. | date=2024 | title=Enigmas no longer: using ultraconserved elements to place several unusual hawk taxa and address the non-monophyly of the genus Accipiter (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae) | journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society | pages=blae028 | doi=10.1093/biolinnean/blae028}}
Species
{{Species table |genus=Milvus |authority-name= Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |species-count=three|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}
{{Species table/row
|name= Red kite|binomial=Milvus milvus
|image=File:Milvus milvus Balearic Islands.jpg |image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Linnaeus|authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= Western Europe and northwest Africa
|range-image=File:Milvus milvus distr02.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status=LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on
| M. m. milvus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Europe and northwest Africa to the Middle East
| M. m. fasciicauda Hartert, 1914 – Cape Verde Islands
}}
}}
{{Species table/row
|name= Black kite|binomial=Milvus migrans
|image=File:Black Kite (6951496173).jpg |image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Boddaert |authority-year= 1783 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= Eurasia and parts of Australasia and Oceania
|range-image=File:MilvusMigransIUCNver2018 2.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Five subspecies |bullets=on
|M. m. migrans – (Boddaert, 1783)
|M. m. lineatus – (J. E. Gray, 1831)
|M. m. govinda – Sykes, 1832
|M. m. affinis – Gould, 1838
|M. m. formosanus – Kuroda, 1920
}}
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Yellow-billed kite|binomial=Milvus aegyptius
|image=File:Yellow-billed Kite (6608140277).jpg |image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Gmelin, JF, |authority-year= 1788 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= Sub-Saharan Africa including Madagascar, except for the Congo Basin with intra-African migrations (range marked in light green on map)
|range-image=File:Milvus migrans distr new.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on
|M. a. aegyptius - (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
|M. a. parasitus - (Daudin, 1800)
}}
}}
{{Species table/end}}
Allozyme data indicates that the genetic diversity in both black and red kites is rather low.Schreiber, Arnd; Stubbe, Michael & Stubbe, Annegret (2000): Red kite (Milvus milvus) and black kite (M. migrans): minute genetic interspecies distance of two raptors breeding in a mixed community (Falconiformes: Accipitridae). Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 69'(3): 351–365. {{doi|10.1006/bijl.1999.0365}} (HTML abstract)
Successful hybridization between Milvus kites is fairly commonplace, making mtDNA analyses unreliable to resolve the genus' phylogeny. Furthermore, there is no good correlation between molecular characters and biogeography and morphology in the red kite due to very incomplete lineage sorting.
The yellow-billed kite is apparently a separate species, as indicated by mtDNA phylogeny showing two supported clades,Johnson, Jeff A.; Rick T. Watson, and David P. Mindell (7 July 2005). Prioritizing species conservation: does the Cape Verde kite exist?. Proc Biol Sci. (The Royal Society) 272 (7): 1365–1371. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1560339] biogeography, and morphology. The black-eared kite is somewhat distinct morphologically, but is better considered a well-marked parapatric subspecies. The status of the Cape Verde kite is in doubt; while not a completely monophyletic lineage according to mtDNA data, it is still best regarded as a distinct species. Whatever its status, this population is extinct.
A prehistoric kite from the Early Pleistocene (1.8 million–780,000 years ago) deposits at Ubeidiya (Israel) was described as Milvus pygmaeus.
References
Further reading
- Crochet, Pierre-André (2005): Recent DNA studies of kites. Birding World 18(12): 486–488. [http://www.eurobirding.com/birdingmagazines/artinfo.php?id=8556 HTML section list]
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