---
title: "Gavião-caramujeiro"
description: "Rostrhamus sociabilis — Aves. The snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) is a bird of prey within the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles, hawks, and Old World vultures."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pt/animal/snail-kite
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Gavião-caramujeiro

> Rostrhamus sociabilis — Aves. The snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) is a bird of prey within the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles, hawks, and Old World vultures.

- Scientific name: *Rostrhamus sociabilis*
- Category: `birds` (Aves)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lagos e rios)
- iNaturalist observations: 15146
- Wikidata: [Q839657](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q839657)
- iNaturalist taxon: [5349](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/5349)

## Names

- en: Snail Kite
- de: Schneckenweih
- es: Gavilán caracolero
- fr: Milan des marais
- nl: Slakkenwouw
- pt: Gavião-caramujeiro
- pl: Ślimakojad czerwonooki

## Countries with the most observations

BR (2968), US (2866), AR (2842), MX (1828), EC (664), CO (650), PA (586), HN (479), BZ (283), BO (269), CR (240), PE (191)

## Summary

The snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) is a bird of prey within the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles, hawks, and Old World vultures. Its relative, the slender-billed kite, is now again placed in Helicolestes, making the genus Rostrhamus monotypic. Usually, it is placed in the Milvine kites, but the validity of that grouping is under investigation.

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

## Photo

![Gavião-caramujeiro](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/snail-kite/medium.jpg)

Photo: Andra Waagmeester · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/37058804

## Machine access

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