Producer: John Kessler Executive Producer: Dominic Black © 2016 Tune In to Nature. BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler. Today’s show is dedicated to the memory of Rusty Rose, a great friend to birds everywhere… including a group of Mississippi Kites he followed, watched, and protected on his ranch in Texas.īird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. It is not uncommon to see several circling in the same area. The tips of the wings and the tail of the bird are black in color. They have tails that are fairly long and square-tipped. The body of the bird is slender and they are small raptors that have long, pointed wings. On their trail are the Mississippi Kites, dining on the wing, sustained by the insects that are their traveling companions. Mississippi kites have narrow, pointed wings and are graceful in flight, often appearing to float in the air. The Mississippi kite is a small bird that belongs to the family of accipitridae. It reaches its maximum abundance in the central states of Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana (Price et al. It breeds across the southern states from Florida as far west as Arizona and New Mexico (A.O.U. Green Darners, big blue and green dragonflies, emerge from wetlands all over eastern North America and also head south, to breed. The Mississippi Kite is a fairly common breeding raptor throughout its somewhat restricted range. By late August, the birds come together in flocks and start down the east side of Mexico, joining with tens of thousands of other migrants in the famous River of Raptors.īut not only raptors.
But in migration they become more focused. During the breeding season, they seek varied prey from treetops to ground, even over water. Medium-sized and large insects dominate the kites’ diet.
By nesting in groups, they can work together to mob an approaching predator. They often nest colonially – unusual for hawks – with a half-dozen pairs in sight of one another in a grove of tall trees.
These dove-gray birds spend the summer hunting over plains and woodlands in southern United States. The Mississippi Kite is one of America's most elegant raptors, with long, pointed wings and buoyant flight.
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