Elanus is a genus of bird of prey in the elanine kite subfamily. It was introduced by the French zoologist Jules-César Savigny in 1809 with the black-winged kite (Elanus caeruleus) as the type species.[1][2] The name is from the Ancient Greek elanos for a "kite".[3]
The first three species above were considered conspecific as subspecies of Elanus caeruleus, which has been known as the black-shouldered kite.[5][6][7]
These are white and grey raptors of open country, with black wing markings and a short square tail. They hunt by slowly quartering the habitat for rodents and other small mammals, birds and insects, sometimes hovering like a kestrel.