| Double-toothed Kite (Harpagus bidentatus) |
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| Brazil This is a fairly small raptor at around 34cm. (13"). It looks more like a hawk than a kite and this may be a form of mimicry giving it some protection through looking like a fiercer type of bird. Notable features are the grey head, red eye, greenish cere, white throat with dark stipe, rufous breast band with barring below, yellow legs and dark tail with 3 whitish bands and a white tip. |
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| I think that the individual in the first two photos is a male since the female tends to have a more solid rufous breast band. It is a bird of tropical forest found in South & Central America. It feeds on lizards, insects, etc., and is often found close to troops of monkeys feeding on the small animals that the monkeys disturb as they move around the forest. As its name implies, it does have a double "tooth" on the upper mandible which is not obvious in these photos but is visible through binoculars at this sort of range. |
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| There are illustrations in HBW, Volume 2, Page 114; Sick, Plate 8; and Hilty & Brown, Plate 5. | ||||
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