yellow-billed kite
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Yellow-billed kite
| image = Milvus aegyptius -Limpopo, South Africa-8.jpg
| image_caption = Adult in Limpopo, South Africa
| image2 = Yellow-billed Kite (Milvus aegyptius) juvenile (6041210797).jpg
| image2_caption = Juvenile in the Kruger Park, South Africa
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Milvus
| species = aegyptius
| authority = (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision_ref = Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2020. IOC World Bird List (v10.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.10.2.
| subdivision =
- M. a. aegyptius - (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
- M. a. parasitus - (Daudin, 1800)
| range_map = Milvus migrans distr new.png
| range_map_caption = Milvus aegyptius range (light green)
}}
The yellow-billed kite (Milvus aegyptius) is the Afrotropic counterpart of the black kite (Milvus migrans), of which it is most often considered a subspecies. However, DNA studies suggest that the yellow-billed kite differs significantly from black kites in the Eurasian clade, and should be considered as a separate, allopatric species.
Taxonomy
The yellow-billed kite was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He specified that the bird was found in Egypt, placed it with the eagles, falcons and relatives in the genus Falco and coined the binomial name Falco aegyptius. Unusually, Gmelin did not cite a source for his information.{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1788 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume=1, Part 1 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=261 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2896861 }} The yellow-billed kite is now one of three kites placed in the genus Milvus that was introduced in 1799 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède.{{ 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 web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=August 2022 | title=Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors | work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/raptors/| publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=6 December 2022 }}
There are two subspecies:
| class="wikitable " | ||
| Image | Subspecies | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| 120px | M. a. parasitus (Daudin, 1800) | found throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa (including Madagascar), except for the Congo Basin (with intra-African migrations) |
| 120px | M. a. aegyptius (Gmelin, JF, 1788) | Egypt, southwestern Arabia and the Horn of Africa (which disperses south during the non-breeding season). |
The yellow-billed kite was formerly considered as conspecific with the black kite (Milvus migrans).{{ 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=297 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108938 }} A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2005 compared DNA sequences of two mitochondrial loci of the red, black and yellow-billed kites. It found that there was significant divergence between the three species, but unexpectedly, the two clades corresponding to the M. a. aegyptius and M. a. parasitus subspecies did not form a monophyletic group.{{Cite journal | last1=Johnson | first1=J.A. | last2=Watson | first2=R.T. | last3=Mindell | first3=D.P. | date=2005 | title=Prioritizing species conservation: does the Cape Verde kite exist? | journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | volume=272 | issue=1570 | pages=1365–1371 | doi=10.1098/rspb.2005.3098| pmid=16006325 | pmc=1560339 }}
Description
As suggested by its name, the yellow-billed kite is easily recognized by its entirely yellow bill, unlike that of the black kite (which is present in Africa as a visitor during the North Hemisphere winter). However, immature yellow-billed kites resemble the black kites of the corresponding age.
Habitat and feeding
Status
It is mostly an intra-African breeding migrant, present in Southern Africa July–March and sometimes as late as May. It is generally common. There are no threats to this species as stated by the IUCN.
Gallery
File:Milvus aegyptius -Tsimbazaza Zoo, Madagascar-8a.jpg|At Tsimbazaza Zoo, Madagascar
File:Yellow-billed kite cropped.jpg|Milvus aegyptius parasitus
Yellow-billed kite (Milvus aegyptius parasitus) in flight Sao Tome.jpg|M. a. parasitus, São Tomé and Príncipe
Yellow-billed kite (Milvus aegyptius aegyptius) in flight Ethiopia.jpg|M. a. aegyptius, Ethiopia
Yellow-billed Kite (Milvus aegyptius parasitus).jpg|Milvus aegyptius parasitus, Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda
Yellow-billed Kite (Milvus aegyptius parasitus) juvenile.jpg|juvenile Milvus aegyptius parasitus, The Gambia
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- Yellow-billed kite - [http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/126.pdf Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q32840}}