Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Alberto Esquivel, Frank Fragano and Arne Lesterhuis and is used with their permission
SNAIL KITE Rostrhamus sociabilis
The elongated upper mandible of the Snail Kite may look a bit ridiculous, but if your diet consists entirely of water snails then you need the tools to be able to do the job. Yes the bill acts as a "snail-picker", the Kite usually holding the snail with its foot and punching a hole in the base of the shell first to loosen the grip of the snail, then reaching in and delicately extracting it before swallowing its juicy prize. Snail Kites use favoured perches for extracting their prey and the floor around them is often littered with a pile of discarded snail shells - an unmistakable sign that a Kite has been at work (FPAVE2937PH).
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE2927PH) Adult male ventral view, Bahía de Asunción, Departamento Central (Frank Fragano undated).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE2928PH) Adult male, location unknown (Arne Lesterhuis undated).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE2929PH) Adult male dorsal, Rio Negro, Departamento Alto Paraguay (Paul Smith August 2011).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE2930PH) Adult male, Itacua, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith December 2006).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE2931PH) Adult female, location unknown (Frank Fragano undated).
FIGURE 6 - (FPAVE2932PH) Juvenile taking flight, location unknown (Alberto Esquivel undated).
FIGURE 7 - (FPAVE2933PH) Juvenile, Bahía de Asunción, Departamento Central (Paul Smith October 2007).
FIGURE 8 - (FPAVE2934PH) Juvenile, Centre de Recherche Ruta Trans-Chaco km 293, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Paul Smith September 2006).
FIGURE 9 - (FPAVE3187PH) Juvenile roadkill upperwing, Ruta Trans-Chaco km 300, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Paul Smith February 2012).
FIGURE 10 - (FPAVE3188PH) Same individual as (FPAVE3187PH) underwing (Paul Smith February 2012).
FIGURE 11 - (FPAVE2935PH) Adult male in flight dorsal view, location unknown (Frank Fragano undated).
FIGURE 12 - (FPAVE2936PH) Migratory movement, location unknown (Alberto Esquivel undated).
FIGURE 13 - (FPAVE2937PH) Snail collection, sign of feeding Snail Kites, Ruta Trans-Chaco km350 (Paul Smith October 2007).
VIDEO A - (FPAVE3189VI) Male, Laguna Capitán, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Paul Smith February 2012).
VIDEO B - (FPAVE2938VI) Same juvenile as (FPAVE2933PH) (Paul Smith October 2007).
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