Snail Kite
Photo © Paul Hoekman
Photo © Paul Hoekman — CC BY 4.0 — Source: iNaturalist photo #219789346The 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. == Taxonomy == Lerner and Mindell (2005) found R. sociabilis sister to Geranospiza caerulescens, and that those two along with Ictinea plumbea were basal to both the Buteogallus and Buteo clades. They concluded that Rostrhamus belonged in Buteoninae (sensu stricto) and not in Milvinae, but noted that more investigation was needed. == Distribution == The snail kite breeds in tropical South America, the Caribbean, and central and southern Florida in the United States. It is resident all-year round in most of its range, but the southernmost population migrates north in winter and the Caribbean birds disperse widely outside the breeding season. == Description == Snail kites are 36 to 48 cm (14 to 19 in) long with a 99–120 cm (39–47 in) wingspan. They weigh from 300 to 570 g (11 to 20 oz). There is very limited sexual dimorphism, with the female…
Emas National Park
Brazil
+333 birds+23 mammals
Across the high plateaux of central Brazil, where the cerrado grasslands roll toward distant horizons under an immense sky, Emas National Park anchors one of South…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSerra do Cipó National Park
Brazil
+379 birds+5 mammals
Where granite escarpments rise above the Atlantic Forest transition zone in southeastern Brazil, Serra do Cipó National Park unfolds across a landscape of dramatic ridges, cascading…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKArenal Volcano National Park
Peñas Blancas, Costa Rica
+551 birds+21 mammals
Straddling the border between Alajuela and Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica, this national park rises dramatically around one of Central America's most active volcanic systems. The…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKTortuguero National Park
Roxana, Costa Rica
+420 birds+23 mammals
Canals and lagoons thread through a labyrinth of lowland rainforest where the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica meets the wetland frontier. This is terrain shaped by…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSanta Rosa National Park
Santa Elena, Costa Rica
+359 birds+30 mammals
Where Pacific-facing slopes descend from volcanic uplands toward the Guanacaste lowlands, Santa Rosa National Park unfolds across a mosaic of tropical dry forest, gallery woodland, and…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKYasuní National Park
Aguarico, Ecuador
+601 birds+43 mammals
Where the western Amazon basin converges with Ecuador's Orellana Province, lowland rainforest reaches toward the horizon in an unbroken canopy of staggering botanical density. Yasuní National…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKEverglades National Park
Monroe County, United States
+345 birds+22 mammals
Where freshwater marsh meets subtropical sky, the Everglades sprawls across southwestern Florida as one of North America's most expansive wetland ecosystems. Spanning over 13,000 square kilometers,…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCerros de Amotape National Park
District of San Jacinto, Ecuador
+246 birds+1 mammals
Arid mountains rise abruptly from Peru's northwestern frontier, their slopes clothed in xerophytic scrubland and seasonal deciduous forest that transforms these Andean foothills into one of…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKNatural Utría National Park
Alto Baudó (Pie de Pató), Colombia
+372 birds+11 mammals
Where the Chocó's coastal mountains plunge toward the Pacific, Utría National Park preserves one of Colombia's most biodiverse and least-visited wilderness expanses. Sprawling across 1,287 square…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKNatural Farallones de Cali National Park
Buenaventura, Colombia
+733 birds+27 mammals
Where the Pacific coastal plain meets the western slopes of the Andes, Farallones de Cali National Park sprawls across nearly 3,500 square kilometers of dramatic topography…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMorrocoy National Park
Municipio Silva
+290 birds
Where the Caribbean coast of northwestern Venezuela meets protected coastal waters, a mosaic of mangrove forests, sandy beaches, and coral reef systems defines Morrocoy National Park.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKNatural Sierra de la Macarena National Park
Vista Hermosa, Colombia
+566 birds+15 mammals
Across nearly 20,000 square kilometres of Colombia's Meta Department, the terrain rises from lowland savanna into Andean foothills through a mosaic of gallery forests, palm-fringed wetlands,…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKAmacayacu National Park
Leticia, Colombia
+567 birds+25 mammals
Where the Rio Amazonas curves through the tri-border region where Colombia, Peru, and Brazil converge, Amacayacu National Park sprawls across more than 5,250 square kilometres of…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKItatiaia National Park
Brazil
+519 birds+12 mammals
Where granite peaks pierce the Atlantic rainforest canopy in southeastern Brazil, Itatiaia National Park rises as one of the country's oldest and most ecologically vital protected…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKPeixe National Park Lagoon
Brazil
+293 birds+4 mammals
Where the coastal plains of Rio Grande do Sul meet the Atlantic, Peixe National Park Lagoon sprawls across nearly 2,200 square kilometres of shallow waters, reed…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKIguaçu National Park
Brazil
+387 birds+17 mammals
Where the Paraná Plateau plunges toward the Atlantic watershed, six thousand square kilometers of subtropical rainforest cling to steep gorges and river valleys in this corner…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKIlha Grande National Park
Brazil
+233 birds
Across the subtropical plateaus and Atlantic forest remnants of southern Brazil, a vast protected landscape spanning nearly 4,600 square kilometers safeguards one of the continent's most…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSerra dos Órgãos National Park
Brazil
+446 birds+13 mammals
Granite peaks thrust skyward through the Atlantic Forest canopy in the mountains immediately north of Rio de Janeiro, their bare rock faces rising above a landscape…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKChapada dos Guimarães National Park
Brazil
+450 birds+1 mammals
Where weathered sandstone plateaus rise above the cerrado grasslands of central Brazil, Chapada dos Guimarães National Park protects 624 square kilometres of ecological transition zone that…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKChapada dos Veadeiros National Park
Brazil
+324 birds+6 mammals
Where granite plateaus rise above the cerrado savanna in central Brazil, Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park unfolds across 6,665 square kilometres of some of the world's…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKPantanal Matogrossense National Park
Brazil
+322 birds+17 mammals
Where the flooded forests of central Brazil meet vast seasonally inundated grasslands, Pantanal Matogrossense National Park sprawls across nearly 2,900 square kilometers of one of the…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKLençóis Maranhenses National Park
Brazil
+98 birds+2 mammals
Where white sand dunes rise in dramatic ridges across a coastal lowland, Lençóis Maranhenses National Park reveals one of Brazil's most otherworldly landscapes. Spanning 3,670 square…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBrasília National Park
Plano Piloto, Brazil
+338 birds+15 mammals
Cerrado grassland and scattered woodland sweep across the central Brazilian plateau where this national park sprawls across more than a thousand square kilometres of the Federal…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKAmazônia National Park
Brazil
+439 birds+6 mammals
Where the Rio Amazonas and its tributaries weave through the heart of Pará state, a vast tapestry of rainforest stretches across 23,611 square kilometers of unbroken…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKAnavilhanas National Park
Brazil
+468 birds+8 mammals
Across the Rio Negro in central Amazonas, an archipelago of over a thousand islands rises from the world's largest rainforest river system, creating a labyrinth of…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKManu National Park
Manu, Peru
+892 birds+26 mammals
Across the eastern slopes of the Peruvian Andes, tropical rainforest descends into the Amazon basin with a complexity that few terrestrial ecosystems match. Manu National Park…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSierra del Divisor National Park
Alto Tapiche, Peru
+298 birds+2 mammals
Where the western Amazon meets the Andes foothills, nearly 41,000 square kilometres of pristine rainforest rise across Peru's Alto Tapiche region in a landscape of extraordinary…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBahuaja Sonene National Park
San Pedro de Putina Punco, Peru
+602 birds+8 mammals
Where the Madre de Dios and Heath rivers converge in southeastern Peru rises one of South America's most biodiverse wilderness regions: a vast protected realm of…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSoberanía National Park
Cristóbal, Panama
+495 birds+34 mammals
Rainforest and riverine woodland blanket the rolling terrain of this 714-square-kilometre national park in Colón Province, where the Caribbean watershed feeds a maze of streams and…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKChagres National Park
Caimitillo, Panama
+486 birds+19 mammals
Where the Chagres River carves through the humid tropics of central Panama, a vast montane and lowland forest sprawls across more than 2,300 square kilometers, anchoring…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKDarién National Park
Tucutí, Panama
+534 birds+13 mammals
Where the spine of Central America crumbles into wetland and rainforest, Darién National Park sprawls across more than 20,000 square kilometres of some of the tropics'…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKEl Palmar National Park
Distrito Sexto, Argentina
+244 birds+14 mammals
Across the Paraná River floodplain in northeastern Argentina, palms rise from wetland and grassland in a landscape shaped by water and time. El Palmar National Park…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCampos del Tuyú National Park
Argentina
+169 birds+5 mammals
Subtropical forest graces the borderlands where Misiones Province meets Paraguay, a landscape shaped by the Paraná Plateau's weathered topography and the warm, humid climate of northeastern…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKRío Pilcomayo National Park
Argentina
+271 birds+13 mammals
Where the Río Pilcomayo cuts through northeastern Argentina's subtropical lowlands, a sprawling mosaic of wetlands, grasslands, and seasonally flooded forests creates one of South America's most…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKIguazú National Park
Puerto Iguazú, Argentina
+346 birds+15 mammals
Where the Paraná Plateau plunges toward the Atlantic watershed, nearly 800 square kilometers of subtropical rainforest drape across Misiones Province in a landscape carved by millennia…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKEl Rey National Park
Municipio de Las Lajitas, Argentina
+317 birds+4 mammals
Where the eastern slopes of the Andes descend into northwestern Argentina's subtropical transition zone, El Rey National Park unfolds across 841 square kilometers of dramatically varied…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKParque Provincial Pampa del Indio
Laguna Limpia, Argentina
+231 birds+4 mammals
Across the flat horizons of Chaco Province, where the Paraná River system spills into vast wetlands and grasslands, Parque Provincial Pampa del Indio protects one of…
VIEW NATURE RESERVEChaco National Park
Municipio de Presidencia de la Plaza, Argentina
+258 birds+7 mammals
Across the humid subtropical lowlands of northeastern Argentina, where the Paraná River basin feeds vast seasonal wetlands and gallery forests, Chaco National Park protects one of…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKLagunas de Montebello National Park
Laguna de Montebello, Mexico
+360 birds+2 mammals
Where turquoise lagoons pierce the limestone plateau of southeastern Chiapas, the Lagunas de Montebello National Park unfolds across roughly 174 square kilometers of spectral water and…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSian Ka’an
Chunyaxché, Mexico
+350 birds+16 mammals
Where the Yucatán Peninsula dissolves into wetland and mangrove, a vast mosaic of forest, lagoon, and coastal margin creates one of Mexico's most biodiverse strongholds. Across…
VIEW BIOSPHERE RESERVEMontes Azules
Candelaria, Mexico
+395 birds+47 mammals
Where jungle-clad limestone plateaus plunge into canyon systems carved by the Usumacinta River, Mexico's most pristine rainforest reserve unfolds across the Lacandón region of Chiapas. Montes…
VIEW BIOSPHERE RESERVETikal National Park
Tikal, Guatemala
+399 birds+16 mammals
Dense rainforest canopy rises above the limestone plateau of Petén, where archaeological wonder and ecological richness merge seamlessly across one of Central America's most biodiverse landscapes.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKLaguna del Tigre National Park
Petén, Guatemala
+399 birds+29 mammals
Where the Petén lowlands dissolve into wetland and forest, Laguna del Tigre National Park protects one of Guatemala's most ecologically vital landscapes. This sprawling reserve encompasses…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSierra del Lacandón National Park
Petén, Guatemala
+348 birds+7 mammals
Where the Petén rainforest rises into limestone ridges and deep ravines, Sierra del Lacandón National Park protects one of Central America's most intact tropical wilderness zones.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBiscayne National Park
Miami-Dade County, United States
+263 birds+7 mammals
Coral reefs and mangrove shallows dominate this marine sanctuary where the Florida Keys meet the Atlantic, creating a mosaic of shallow seagrass meadows, patch reefs, and…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKJ.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Sanibel, United States
+277 birds+6 mammals
Mangrove channels and coastal marshlands dominate this 6,400-acre sanctuary on Florida's Gulf coast, where brackish waterways weave between dense stands of red, black, and white mangrove…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYMerritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
Brevard County, United States
+341 birds+19 mammals
Brackish marshes and palmetto scrub define this wildlife sanctuary spanning the coastal lowlands of central Florida, where the Atlantic tide meets freshwater systems in a dynamic…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYPelican Island National Wildlife Refuge
Windsor, United States
+265 birds+4 mammals
Where Florida's Indian River widens into a brackish estuary, a small island sanctuary commands the attention of waterbirds across the Atlantic Flyway. Pelican Island National Wildlife…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYSt. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
Saint Marks, United States
+324 birds+16 mammals
Where the Apalachee Bay begins to define the Florida coastline, salt marshes and freshwater impoundments merge into one of the southeastern United States' most productive wildlife…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYChassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge
Homosassa, United States
+299 birds+14 mammals
Where the Gulf of Mexico's coastal marshes dissolve into brackish tidal flats and mangrove thickets, the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Sanctuary near Homosassa represents one of Florida's…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYPalo Verde National Park
Bagaces, Costa Rica
+318 birds+24 mammals
Dry forest spreads across Palo Verde's low-lying terrain in northwestern Guanacaste, where seasonal rivers and lagoons etch through deciduous woodland that sheds its canopy each winter.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCaño Negro National Wildlife Refuge
Caño Negro District, Costa Rica
+486 birds+16 mammals
Where the San Juan River's seasonal floodplain opens into expansive wetlands, Caño Negro Wildlife Sanctuary sprawls across one of Central America's most productive freshwater ecosystems. This…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYGandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge
Manzanillo, Costa Rica
+394 birds+18 mammals
Where the Caribbean coastal plain surrenders to water-logged forest and mangrove tangles, Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Sanctuary shelters one of Costa Rica's most biodiverse lowland wetland ecosystems. The…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYBarra del Colorado National Wildlife Refuge
Tortuguero, Costa Rica
+462 birds+36 mammals
Where the Caribbean's restless waters meet the Limón Province coastline, Barra del Colorado National Wildlife Sanctuary unfolds across a landscape of extraordinary ecological complexity. This equatorial…
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