Description
Measuring 33 to 38 cm in length (13-15 in) with a wingspan of 85 to 95 cm (34–38 in), and weighing around 291 g (10.3 oz), the adult Letter-winged Kite is a pale grey with a white head and white underparts. It bears a characteristic long black leading edge of the inner wing, which resembles a letter 'M' or 'W' when flying. When perched, this gives them their prominent black "shoulders". It has red eyes, with black eye patches surrounding. Their nostrils are yellow and the sharp hooked beaks are black. The legs and feet are also yellow, and the feet have three toes facing forwards and one toe facing backwards. The female can be distinguished by a greyer crown.
The 'M' or 'W' on the underside of its wing, and lack of black wing tips help distinguish it from the Black-shouldered Kite. In flight, it beats its wings more slowly and deeply. Finally, the latter species is diurnal, not nocturnal.
Its call is a chicken-like chirping or a repeated loud kacking.
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“The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St. Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)