Above a photo of a plumbeous kite, made by Dennis Binda in Suriname. Below one made by Foek Chin Joe also in Suriname in 2005. This kite is very common in places where it can look out from a branch over some terrain, like on the edge of forest of along a river. It will catch flying insects from its look-out or while soaring above the trees, sometimes in groups. Dominiek Plouvier writes: "yesterday evening I rode back from Overbridge and above the road there were 20 plumbeous kites, catching insects. The insects were large wasps with rusty-brown wings, at least 3 cm large, flying in numbers to great heights. Also involved were two batfalcons and Oropendolas and Channel-billed Toucans. What a show all around us. The toucans were shy so I didn't see if they were really eating the wasps, but I think so."
Each small square indicates the observation of at least one (group) of these birds, the medium ones at least 4 observations on different days and the largest ones 10 or more. The color of each square indicates: blue for coastal area, yellow for savanna and red for rainforest. They are less often spotted in the dry period (September, October, November) as can be seen in the graph below
Number of observations of the plumbeous kite in Suriname from 1945-2005, summed over the months.
| Distribution in Suriname (explanation) | |
| Coastal area |  |
| Savanna | |
| Forests | |
| Mountain forests | |
| Sipalawini savanna |  |
Names in:
More pictures of birds of prey in Surinam
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