A mitochondrial DNA study on museum specimens suggested that Cape Verde birds did not form a monophyletic lineage among or next to red kites. The question whether the Cape Verde kite should be considered a distinct species ( Milvus fasciicauda) or a red kite subspecies has not been settled. The red kites on the Cape Verde Islands are (or rather were) quite distinct in morphology, being somewhat intermediate with black kites. The red kite has been known to successfully hybridize with the black kite in captivity where both species were kept together, and in the wild on the Cape Verde Islands and infrequently in other places. The genus Milvus contains two other species: the black kite ( M. fasciicauda Hartert, 1914 – Cape Verde Islands milvus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Europe and northwest Africa to the Middle East In 1799 the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède moved the species to the genus Milvus creating the tautonym. The word milvus was the Latin name for the bird. The red kite was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Falco milvus. Vagrants have reached north to Finland and south to Israel, Libya and Gambia. It is resident in the milder parts of its range in western Europe and northwest Africa, but birds from northeastern and Central Europe winter further south and west, reaching south to Turkey. The species currently breeds in the Western Palearctic region of Europe and northwest Africa, though it formerly also occurred in northern Iran. The red kite ( Milvus milvus) is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. Red Kite at Bwlch Nant yr Arian, Wales, a local feeding ground.
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