In 1851 British zoologist Edward Blyth described Elaninae, the "smooth clawed kites", as a formal subfamily of Accipitridae.

[note 2] However they are also grouped in Accipitrinae, the broader subfamily of hawks and eagles described by French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816.

[8] Lerner and Mindell describe the Elaninae as: "Kites noted for having a bony shelf above the eye, Elanus is cosmopolitan, Gampsonyx is restricted to the New World and Chelictinia is found in Africa".

Wink and Sauer-Gurth[10] found that Elanus was less related than the osprey and secretary bird (which are often placed in a separate family), but noted that this was not strongly indicated.

Negro and colleagues have discussed convergent traits between kites in the genus Elanus and owls, such as a lower acidity of the stomach and some specialized flight feathers otherwise not found in diurnal raptors.

[11] Lerner and Mindell[9] also found that Elanoides forficatus grouped with Perninae, such as the type species Pernis apivorus and the Australian endemics Lophoictinia and Hamirostra.