A favorite avian species for everyone familiar with the bird is the Swallow-tailed Kite. These birds arrived in the U.S. Southeast around the first of March after having flown thousands of miles from there South American wintering range. They arrive here for breeding and by mid-summer the juveniles can be seen soaring with their parents.
They arrive here for breeding and by mid-summer the juveniles can be seen soaring with their parents. By the end of July the Kites have been gathering in staging areas as they prepare to repeat their journey back to South America. And so by Labor Day, most all of the Swallow-tailed Kites have left the U.S. The Avian Research and Conservation Institute (ARCI) has been tracking this a few other species as they migrate. Please follow their kite blog and other research projects as they work to solve the mystryies about how and where they migrate.
Saw a pair of these near San Carlos Blvd. In south Ft Myers 8/1/2018. Never saw them before.
ReplyDeleteThere are four Swallow-tailed Kites living in Loxahatchee Florida near Cheetham HIll Blvd and Sycamore. I watch them fly over my house every morning for the past month or so. Today is the first day I have seen 4. There are usually two. They are gathering Spanish moss.
ReplyDeleteThats in Palm Beach County
ReplyDeleteThis evening at 7 pm, Eastlake Woodlands, fairway 17, were 5 swallowtail Kites. 4 were soaring in the evening while one was in a tree watching. Magnificent!
ReplyDelete3 daily in Tampa Florida
ReplyDeleteJust saw one in Punta Gorda, Deep Creek neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteJust left Everglades City Fl. We saw them on 29 flying above the road . Wondering g if they eat the Hugh grasshoppers out here . There’s thousands of them
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