seizes its prey from branches rather than in mid-air. Its diet appears to be mostly insects such as cicadas and orthoptera with lesser numbers of small lizards, birds, amphibians, and mammals. It has been observed following army ant swarms and at least once a troop of monkeys to capture prey flushed by them. Breeding The rufous-thighed kite's breeding season is October to February, the austral late spring and summer. Its nest is a platform of small sticks placed in a tree fork or on a horizontal branch. The clutch size is one or two eggs. The incubation period is not known; fledging occurs about four weeks after hatch. Vocalization A fledgling and a parent on the nest gave "high-pitched 'chee' and disyllabic 'chee-weet' begging calls" when the other parent approached with prey. "Adults also give a three-note vocalization." Status The IUCN has assessed the rufous-thighed kite as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range, but its population size is not known and believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It is a breeding endemic in the Atlantic Forest, a biome that has been almost completed destroyed. "Improved knowledge of its breeding range and biology suggests that this species may now be of conservation concern." References rufous-thighed kite Birds of Brazil rufous-thighed kite Taxonomy articles created by Polbot