The problems of genetic support of dividing the black kite (Milvus migrans) into subspecies

N G Andreyenkova,M Wink,I J Starikov,I V Karyakin,O V Andreyenkov,I F Zhimulev

doi:10.18699/vj19.486

Abstract

The black kite Milvus migrans is a common bird of prey demonstrating remarkable ecological plasticity. It inhabits a variety of habitats and is an increasingly synanthropic species. The black kite is widespread in Eurasia, Africa, Australia and adjacent islands. Palearctic kites migrate to Africa, India and China in winter, but kites of Africa and Australia are partly sedentary and partly seasonal migrants. The wide range and high mobility are the reasons of a complex population structure of the black kite. Commonly five to seven M. migrans subspecies are distinguished, each of which is widespread over extensive areas and has more or less an apparent phenotype. Recently, studies of genetic differences between black kite populations started to emerge. On the grounds of earlier studies of mitochondrial and nuclear genes of this species, we check whether there is a genetic support for separation of the black kite subspecies. Recent studies of some mitochondrial loci substantiate the recognition of at least the European (M. m. migrans), Asian (M. m. lineatus and M. m. govinda), African (M. m. aegyptius and M. m. parasitus), and Australian (M. m. affinis) black kite subspecies. Furthermore, the mitochondrial haplotype difference suggests that the African yellow-billed kite, including M. m. aegyptius and M. m. parasitus, should be a separate species as already proposed, or even two separate species.

Highlights

The black kite Milvus migrans is a diurnal raptor of the fami ly Accipitridae, inhabiting a wide breeding range including continental Eurasia, Africa, Australia and several islands
We examined 20 independent black kite families and concluded that the most common haplotypes in this population coincided with the minor hap lotypes found in the European M. m. migrans population by Heneberg et al (2016)
We conclude that the current knowledge of black kite phy logenetics is very far from complete, and genetic research is limited mainly to the European subspecies M. m. migrans

Summary

Introduction

The black kite Milvus migrans is a diurnal raptor of the fami ly Accipitridae, inhabiting a wide breeding range including continental Eurasia, Africa, Australia and several islands. Johnson et al (2005) analyzed the CytB and ND2 mitochondrial gene sequences (2146 bp in total) in 43 black and red kite samples from 27 locations, including Western Europe, Africa, South Asia, Japan, Australia, and New Guinea. CytB sequences of another M. migrans subspecies from GenBank were included to the phylogenetic tree.

Results

Conclusion