In southern Illinois, where Mississippi kites were common as late as the 1870s, they had “virtually disappeared” by the late 1920s. Beginning in the early 1900s, reports of widespread decline of the eastern population began surfacing. While Mississippi kite populations in the Great Plains and southwest grew and expanded geographically throughout the 1800s and 1900s, the story differed to the east.Īlthough records are scarce, the species was thought to be abundant in the southeast and Mississippi Alluvial Valley throughout the 1800s. The natural history and population dynamics of the species vary between the eastern and western portions of their breeding range. Arriving to their breeding grounds already paired between April and May, they remain in North America until late August when they depart for their wintering grounds in central South America. Mississippi kites breed throughout the American southeast, Mississippi Alluvial Valley, Great Plains and into the American southwest however, records of breeding pairs far outside their historic range are becoming increasingly common. Mississippi kites frequently return to successful nest sites multiple years in a row. They build loose nests from large twigs in a wide variety of tree species and at varying heights and in Illinois prefer tall trees such as sweetgum, maple and sycamore. Highly social by nature, Mississippi kites sometimes feed gregariously and can occasionally be found nesting in loose colonies. These sleek birds of prey are renowned for their buoyant and graceful flying ability, sometimes being described as “floating on air.” They are aerial insectivores, feeding primarily on large flying insects and hunting either by hawking from a perch or, more often, on-the-wing while soaring. Mississippi kites are crow-sized neotropical-migrant raptors, easily identified by their striking gray and silver plumage, long, pointed wings, and square-tipped tail. The spectacle lasted until our road ended and the drove of birds slowly moved northward, continuously feeding as they traveled up the Mississippi River. Although not a particularly vocal species, the air was filled with a cacophony of their distinct “Phee-phew” calls as the massive kettle of kites feasted. After a few moments, we were surrounded by more than 150 Mississippi kites in the middle of a feeding frenzy, swooping and barrel-rolling to catch dragonflies then consuming their prey mid-flight. We pulled onto a farm road to observe the aerial acrobatics more closely when we noticed a second kite, then a third. As we drove, my technician spotted a solitary Mississippi kite hunting over a fallow agricultural field. One hot July day while conducting fieldwork in far southern Illinois, we witnessed a breathtaking natural phenomenon.
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