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Kite (bird) | |
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Black kite (Milvus migrans) | |
Scientific classification![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Accipitriformes |
Family: | Accipitridae |
Groups included | |
Kite is the common name for certain birds of prey in the family Accipitridae, particularly in subfamilies Milvinae, Elaninae, and Perninae.[1] The term is derived from Old English cȳta (“kite; bittern”),[2] possibly from the onomatopoeic Proto-Indo-European root *gū- , "screech."[3][4]
Some authors use the terms "hovering kite" and "soaring kite" to distinguish between Elanus and the milvine kites, respectively.[according to whom?] The group may also be differentiated by size, referring to milvine kites as "large kites", and elanine kites as "small kites". [citation needed]