Nature Notes
by Bob Thomas

Sitting in my office across from Audubon Park, I often watch one of our loveliest summer birds, the Mississippi kite, soaring just above the treetops.

They are known for their aerial displays, typified by leisurely, graceful sailing mixed with occasional acrobatic flight. Their lightweight bodies and relatively long wings combine for buoyant flight. The close observer will notice that their tails function to change or adjust their direction of flight.

Mississippi kites (Ictinia mississippiensis) are gray with dark tails and wings and red eyes. The males have paler heads and necks.

Mississippi kites are extremely social and non-territorial. They are often seen nesting and perching in the same tree.

During the summer, Mississippi kites are common throughout coastal Louisiana, and are especially at home in the cities and suburbs. Their calls during flight may be familiar as a high-pitched two-syllable (rising and falling) whistle that resembles "phee-phew," a sound familiar throughout Greater New Orleans.

Mississippi kites are summer residents of our area, spending their winters in the tropics and beyond, as far south as Argentina. They pair-bond while away, and arrive in the spring to begin nesting. They tend to build simple nests in the crotches of trees, but they are not choosy and often use old nests or those built by crows.

Pairs normally lay one clutch consisting of two bluish-white eggs per season. Both sexes incubate the eggs and care for the young. Fledging takes place in five weeks, and the families are seen soaring and vocalizing.

Mississippi kites are birds of prey (raptors), members of the same order of birds as the hawks, falcons, and eagles. They typically feed on insects caught in their claws on the wing, but I've seen them swooping over treetops snatching caterpillars off the leaves. They will also eat smaller vertebrates, including smaller birds and bats.

As winter approaches, our Mississippi kites migrate south, often in groups of 20-30, following the rim of the Gulf of Mexico. Luckily for those who love these birds, a few months will pass and they will once again return and perform their acrobatic maneuvers over the canopy of our forested areas.

Also published in Delta Journal, The Times Picayune, September 23, 2007.

Mississippi kite adult - note the red eyes.                               Mississippi kite adult.
Photo by Bob Thomas.                                                           Photo by Bob Thomas.

Mississippi kite adult.                                                              Mississippi kite juvenile.
Photo by Bob Thomas.                                                          Photo by Bob Thomas.