This is a rather rare species and we only saw it once on our visit to Belize. We considered ourselves very lucky to watch it catch and devour what appeared to be a Scaly-breasted Hummingbird. This is an unusual prey item for this species. In "The Birds of Panama," Wetmore wrote that they eat small lizards and insects which they catch in the forest canopy. He noted that he had never seen them go after birds. After silencing the hummingbird, the kite posed for a while in fading light allowing this photo.
The second photo shows the distinctive double notches on the cutting edge of the maxilla which give the Double-toothed Kite its name. This is an adult. Juveniles generally lack rusty coloration on the underparts. This photo shows the dark line down the middle of the throat which helps distinguish it from the similar Accipiters.
I haven't been able to decide if this is a male or female. Females have more red on the underparts and across the chest, but illustrations in various sources are inconsistent and differ dramatically. Any opinions?
Two subspecies are recognized. The nominate race is found in eastern tropical South America and differs from our bird in having the underparts more solidly rusty.
Digiscoped with Panasonic DMC-LZ5 | Nikon FieldScope III | 30XWA | hand-held (no adapter)