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General Biology

Snail Kites are a medium sized hawk about 14 - 16 inches in height with a wingspan of 43 - 46 inches.

Adult males are uniformly slate gray in color. During breeding, their legs and cere, or base of the bill, can turn bright reddish orange.

Adult females are brown in color with varying amounts of white streaking. Their legs typically are yellowish in color throughout the year.

Juveniles look somewhat like females, but have more of a reddish tint to their color than do adults, and the streaking tends to be buffy in color, rather than white as is more common for adult females. Juveniles also have brown eyes.

In contrast to juveniles, both sexes have deep red eyes as an adult. Snail Kites also have a sharply hooked bill that is used to sever apple snails from their shells.

Click on the icon below to hear the "nest defense" call. This call is commonly heard when someone is too close to a nest. It is a good signal that you may be disturbing a nest, and should leave the area.(936kb)

Click on the icon below to hear the "female courtship" call. This call is given by the female, and incites males to bring her food and/or nest materials.(2.6mb)

photo: courtesy of Vicky Dreitz

Click on the icon below to hear the "juvenile begging" call. This call is given by juveniles when their parents are in the area with food.(733kb)