Scissor-tailed Kite

The scissor-tailed kite (Chelictinia riocourii), also known commonly as the African swallow-tailed kite and the fork-tailed kite, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is the only species placed in the genus Chelictinia. It is widespread in the northern tropics of Africa. == Taxonomy and systematics == The scissor-tailed kite was illustrated in 1821 for a work by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Temminck. The hand-coloured plate formed part of livraison 15 of Temminck's work. The binomial name Falco riocourii was printed on the wrapper to the livraison, but not included on the plate itself. The text that accompanied the plate in the final bound volume was not published until December 1823, after the species had been described and illustrated in 1822 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. The scissor-tailed kite was grouped with the Elanus kites or with the larger American swallow-tailed kite, but in 1843 the French naturalist René Lesson assigned it to a separate genus, Chelictinia. The genus name Chelictinia is possibly derived from Greek χελιδών or χελιδονι (chelidon), meaning swallow, with ικτινοσ (iktinos), meaning kite. The specific epithet riocourii honours the Count Rioucour, Antoine François du Bois "first president in the Royal Court…