Kingdom Animalia Family Accipitridae Scientific name Milvus Higher classification Accipitrinae Order Accipitriformes | Subphylum Vertebrata Subfamily Milvinae Phylum Chordata Rank Genus | |
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Lower classifications Black kite, Red kite, Yellow‑billed kite | ||
Big eagle milvus bird and rc plane flying together
Milvus is a genus of medium-sized birds of prey. The genus name was the Latin for the red kite.
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This is an Old World group consisting of three kites that form part of the subfamily Milvinae. Its systematics are under revision; it contains 3 or 4 species.
Allozyme data indicates that the genetic diversity in both black and red kites is rather low. Successful hybridization between Milvus kites is fairly commonplace, making mtDNA analyses unreliable to resolve the genus' phylogeny. Furthermore, there is no good correlation between molecular characters and biogeography and morphology in the red kite due to very incomplete lineage sorting.
The yellow-billed kite is apparently a separate species, as indicated by mtDNA phylogeny showing two supported clades, biogeography, and morphology. The black-eared kite is somewhat distinct morphologically, but is better considered a well-marked parapatric subspecies. The status of the Cape Verde kite is in doubt; while not a completely monophyletic lineage according to mtDNA data, it is still best regarded as a distinct species. Whatever its status, this population is extinct.
A prehistoric kite from the Early Pleistocene (1.8 million–780,000 years ago) deposits at Ubeidiya (Israel) was described as Milvus pygmaeus.