Photo: Fernando Moraes
The Hook-billed Kite is an accipitriform bird of the Accipitridae family, also known as the Hook-billed Kite, Hook-billed, Hookbill, and Quequé. It measures between 39 and 51 centimeters and weighs between 215 and 277 grams for male individuals and between 235 and 360 grams for females. The male is approximately 89% of the size of the female on average. It is polymorphic, with highly variable plumage, including dark morph plumages. The most notable variation is in the size of the bill, which is bimodal, with individuals having either a large or small bill, in both sexes and at any age, resulting from the predominant diet of a certain population. This bill dimorphism is a likely evolutionary solution to its main food source, snails A bimodal distribution of bill sizes allows the Hook-billed Kite to feed on different species and sizes of snails. The Hook-billed Kite has a wide distribution over swampy and forested areas.