Flying ‘kites’ with no strings attached

Who doesn’t love kites? They are so much fun to watch! What is your favorite kind? There are diamond kites, box kites, delta kites – some days at the beach, the sky is just full of them.

 

This writer’s favorite kites, though, are Mississippi kites. Oh, you can’t fly a Mississippi kite on a string. Actually, I suppose you could, but this type of bird would probably get very upset!

 

The Mississippi kite, Ictinia mississippiensis, is one of five kite species found in the Americas and one of two that folks might expect to see around Daniel Island. The other visitor is the swallow-tailed kite, another super cool bird quite worthy of its own article.

 

These two species are only here during the summer breeding season, though. They are major migrators and spend the rest of their time in South America.

 

While the swallow-tailed kite winters throughout the northern half of South America, Mississippi kites tend to be farther south and more localized, wintering primarily in southern Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina.

 

Each spring, the kites make the long journey to the Great Plains and the southeastern United States to build their nests and reproduce. 

 

Male and female kites will construct a nest together, from a few feet to over 100 feet above the ground. Clutches of one to three eggs will take roughly a month to hatch, and the young kites will be ready to fly soon after that.

 

Kites can often be found swooping and gliding around Smythe Park, where they nest high in some of the taller trees. Look for slender, graceful raptors with gray bodies fading to light, almost white, necks and heads, and darker wings and tails.

 

Mississippi kites are quite protective of their nests and have been known to attack other hawks, crows, owls, and even people or pets who venture too close to them. It looked like a pair might nest in our backyard this year, but they ultimately moved on to seek a better nest site.

 

Kites are agile and quite acrobatic, as one might expect from a bird whose diet includes dragonflies, grasshoppers, other flying insects, smaller birds, and even bats. They also eat frogs, snakes, lizards, and small mammals and will sometimes land and forage for food on the ground or in shallow water rather than try to catch an airborne meal.

 

One interesting kite quirk is the occasional urge to snack while flying. In an almost human way, the birds will sometimes hold prey with a single claw and, while flying along, lift the food toward their beak and grab a bite. This writer, like many of his fellow pilots, can certainly identify with that behavior!