The Rufous-thighed Kite is distributed in the central and eastern part of the Amazon Basin south through Brazil to northern Argentina, Paraguay and eastern Bolivia.

It is a small kite, slate-grey above and pale-grey below with shortish wings and a longish tail. It has rufous thighs and rufous wing-linings when seen from below. In fact it looks very similar to Bicoloured Hawk Accipiter bicolor and it is assumed to mimic this bird-eating species in order to avoid being mobbed by small birds as it forages for large insects and lizards.