Southernmost records of Swallow-tailed Kite Elanoides forficatus

LM LEVEAU

COTINGA (SANDY)

Neotropical Bird Club

Año: 2012 vol. 34 p. 177 - 178

1353-985X

Swallow-tailed Kite Elanoides forfcatus is a partial migrant that occurs from the south-east USA to northern Argentina2,12 . Two subspecies are recognised, which are similar in coloration and size, and are almost impossible to separate in the feld. E. f .forfcatus is a trans-equatorial migrant and breeds from the USA to northern Mexico, spending the boreal winter in South America as far south as eastern Paraguay and eastern Brazil 6,13 . E. f. yetapa breeds from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, and those birds that nest at southern tropical and Cotinga34-120614.indd 177 6/14/2012 7:22:17 AMCotinga 34 178 Short Communications subtropical latitudes migrate to the tropics in the austral winter2,12 . The subspecies overlap during the austral summer in central South America13 . In Argentina Swallow-tailed Kite breeds in Andes forests and in the interior Atlantic Forest2 , with nine extralimital records during the austral spring and summer in central Argentina4,5,7 , fve of them in Buenos Aires province, on the north (n=3) 1,3,4 and central coasts (n=2) 1,3,5,8 . At Punta Rasa, Swallow-tailed Kite is perhaps a regular vagrant 5 . The other four records come from Mediterranean localities in Córdoba province and north-west Buenos Aires province9–11 . On 10 January 2007 I recorded an individual soaring north between 10h30–11h00 along the coast of Mar del Plata (Buenos Aires province) together with 20–30 swallows (Hirundinidae). The observation was made following a storm during the previous night. Furthermore, M. A. Juhant observed one at the Jardin Botanico de La Plata, on 25 November 2006, 46 days prior to my record in Mar del Plata. My observation was made 200 km, following the coast, south-west of the nearest record at San Clemente del Tuyú11 and is the southernmost record of Swallow- tailed Kite