---
title: "White-tailed Kite"
description: "Elanus leucurus — Birds. The white-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus) is a small raptor found in South America and parts of western North America."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/white-tailed-kite
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# White-tailed Kite

> Elanus leucurus — Birds. The white-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus) is a small raptor found in South America and parts of western North America.

- Scientific name: *Elanus leucurus*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Fields & meadows)
- iNaturalist observations: 24997
- Wikidata: [Q693593](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q693593)
- iNaturalist taxon: [5277](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/5277)

## Names

- en: White-tailed Kite
- de: Weißschwanzaar
- es: Milano cola blanca
- fr: Élanion à queue blanche
- nl: Amerikaanse grijze wouw
- pt: Gavião-peneira
- pl: Kaniuk amerykański

## Countries with the most observations

US (16404), MX (3781), CO (1059), AR (928), CL (466), BR (332), CR (259), PA (146), EC (100), HN (90), NI (66), BZ (55)

## Summary

The white-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus) is a small raptor found in South America and parts of western North America. It replaces the related Old World black-winged kite in its native range.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_kite

## Photo

![White-tailed Kite](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/white-tailed-kite/medium.jpg)

Photo: Adam Jackson · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/242913288

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/white-tailed-kite?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).