Anguilla, Antigua And Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba (B), Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada (B), Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St Kitts And Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, USA (B), Venezuela.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 200,000 (2010).
Hook-billed Kite (Chondrohierax uncinatus) [XC208716]
by Bobby Wilcox from Orellana, Ecuador (call)
Hook-billed Kite (Chondrohierax uncinatus) [XC477312]
by Ciro Albano from Esmeraldas: Cerro Mutile, San Mateo 90 m, Ecuador (song)
Subspecies
Chondrohierax uncinatus (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Hook-billed Kite (Chondrohierax uncinatus) and Cuban Kite (Chondrohierax wilsonii) following Stotz et al. (1996).
Large billed forms have been suggested to form a separate species (Chondrohierax megarhynchus), but this view now discredited,. Subspecies wilsonii of Cuba also recognized by some as full species. Mexican birds traditionally awarded separate subspecies, aquilonis, but considerable individual variation (both in Mexico and elsewhere) indicates that subspecific status is not merited.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
uncinatus (Temminck, 1822) - Western Mexico (Sinaloa) and extreme southern USA (southern Texas) south through Central America, Trinidad, the Guianas and Brazil to eastern Peru and eastern Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina.
mirus Friedmann, 1934 - Grenada (Lesser Antilles).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet