Cuban Kite

The Cuban kite is a little smaller than the hook-billed kite. Males have gray upperparts, black bars on the tail, and the underparts evenly barred grayish and white. Females resemble the Grenada form of hook-billed kite, but the brown barring on the underparts is less rufescent. The bill of Cuban kite is yellowish, in contrast to hook-billed kite's mostly dark bill. The genus name Chondrohierax comes from the Greek meaning cartilage hawk.

In the 20th century the Cuban kite was only reported in the Sagua-Baracoa mountain range in the provinces of Holguín, from which the species was originally described, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo. Recent studies indicate that the species is now restricted to small areas in the east of Cuba, near Moa and Baracoa, and possibly some other parts of Holguín and Guantánamo. Lives in tall trees of forests bordering rivers below 500 m (1640 ft).

Cuban kites feed on colored tree snails (possibly of the genera: Zachrysia,Coryda, and Polymita) and slugs (possibly of the genus Veronicella), which they find in the forest undergrowth, for which the deeply hooked bill is thought to be adapted. Their perches are often found by looking for piles of snail shells and feces.