Yellow-billed Kite (Milvus aegyptius) [XC337369]
by Peter Boesman from Monteforte, Lemb\u00e1, Sao Tome, Sao Tome (call)
Yellow-billed Kite (Milvus aegyptius) [XC467575]
by Jacqueline Leigh from Freetown, Western Area Urban, Western Area, Sierra Leone (call)
Subspecies
Black Kite (Milvus migrans) and Black-eared Kite (Milvus lineatus) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) have been lumped following AERC TAC, a treatment supported by review by the BirdLife Taxonomic Working Group of the Milvus phylogeny presented by Johnson et al. (2005) which nests lineatus within the migrans clade. Johnson et al. (2005) show that yellow-billed populations belonging to aegyptius and parasitus do form a separate clade but the authors point out that further studies are needed to help clarify sister relationships within the group. For these reasons it is felt premature to split members of Milvus migrans.
Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Black Kite (Milvus migrans).
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
aegyptius (Gmelin, JF, 1788) - Widespread. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Black Kite (Milvus migrans).
parasitus (Daudin, 1800) - Africa south of Sahara, Cape Verde Is, Comoro Is and Madagascar. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Black Kite (Milvus migrans).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet