snail kite

The snail kites, found only in the New World, also belong to the subfamily Milvinae. They have sickle-shaped beaks adapted to feeding on snails, their only food. Best known is the Everglade kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis), now rare in Florida and Cuba but occurring in numbers in…

Among birds, snail kites (Rostrhamus sociabilis) are perhaps the most specialized predators. They feed almost exclusively on snails of the genus Pomacea, using their highly hooked bills to extract these abundant snails from their shells.