It has been a harsh breeding season for the Hook-billed Kites (Chondrohierax uncinatus) this year. Nesting started in March, little by little the number of nests we found increased and we even monitored 3 nests simultaneously.
Vigilant breeding pairs providing juicy snails, the young waiting to swallow them... Hook-billed Kites are generally excellent parents. Both sexes participate in all stages of parental care.
Male Hook-billed Kite incubating.
This year, all the nests we found consisted of a single chick and half of them were unsuccessful. The most tragic case was that of the first nest of the season: the chick was still very small and was found dead on the ground; possibly the bad weather of those days caused the chick to fall 12 meters to its death.
Hook-billed Kite chick found dead under the nest tree.
The father of this brood was unknown to us, but the mother was identified by the black and red band on her right leg. This female is one of the 70 Hook-billed Kites we have banded in the area. Thanks to this method we managed to find this breeding pair nesting again a month and a half later in a walnut tree! We crossed our fingers that this time it would be successful.
Male and female of nest 1-2024.
In mid-June, during one of our inspections, we noticed a white egg in the nest, which, when viewed through a telescope (the observation point was 75 m from the nest), also showed some reddish spots. A month later, the parents were carrying snails for their beautiful, completely white chick, which was peering out, asking for food.
Hook-billed Kite chick in the nest.
Another month passed before the chick left the nest. It was tended to by the mother, who we observed every day (so far) feeding her chick in the Chayote (Sechium edule) plantations of Ujarrás. The juvenile grows quickly, flies very well and now hunts and feeds on its own. They did it!
Banded female Hook-billed Kite feeding her chick.
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