Hook-billed Kite

Hook-billed KiteThe Hook-billed Kite is a raptor of tropical American forests and wooded streams. It cracks tree snails with its hooked bill; males are gray, while females have brown upperparts and chestnut barring below.What does it look like?The male is gray with barred underparts and tail. The female has a brown back and chestnut barring below. Both have a strongly hooked bill.How does it live?The Hook-billed Kite is a raptor of tropical American forests and wooded streams. It cracks tree snails with its hooked bill; males are gray, while females have brown upperparts and chestnut barring below.It searches for snails among canopy branches, holds a shell against a perch with one foot, and pries it open with the hooked tip of its bill. Shells may collect below favored feeding perches.Keeping it safeAn extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.