Juvenile mississippi kite plus#

Juvenile mississippi kite plus#

My blog started as a daily record of wildlife and plants in my backyard garden, plus snapshots of our cats and Rich's favorite turtles. Maybe someday I’ll get to travel where Mississippi Kites are common. Only a couple of the Mississippi Kites came close enough for any half-decent pictures, and all of these are significantly cropped. I got really good at doing tail checks…”swallow-tailed….swallow-tailed…hey, you’re different! nope, vulture!” Mississippi Kite Kites, like many other birds, will dive at animals and people that venture too closely to their nests. They mixed in with the hundreds of Swallow-tailed Kites and also a few vultures who were soaring on the thermals. Mississippi kites, at times, cause problems for unsuspecting individuals. It was a real challenge to photograph these birds. It was pretty cool! Mississippi Kite on a Mission Then he would dive for it, spreading his wings and his tail as he quickly maneuvered through the skies. The next time you’re on an airplane and they offer you an in-flight meal, think about how convenient it is not to have to catch it with your feet! Mississippi Kite Spots a Bug Mississippi Kite Grabs the Bug with his Talons Mississippi Kite Mid-Air Snack

Here a kite spots an insect, grabs it in his talons, and then eats it on the wing. The Mississippi Kites, like their swallow-tailed comrades, also eat on the wing. He’s easy to confuse with a hawk at a distance due to the streaking in his tail. The photo below is a juvenile Mississippi Kite. He’s smaller than a Swallow-tailed cousin, and he tends to fly higher, which is particularly annoying to photographers. The photo above is an adult Mississippi Kite. These beautiful black-and-white raptors have a cousin, the Mississippi Kite, who is pretty rare in Florida but can be found…you guessed it…at the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. to northern Michigan, New Foundland.In my last post I wrote about the Swallow-tailed Kites and their pre-migratory gathering over insect-covered fields. in New Jersey (May) and southern New England (June). Migration: most migrate August–early September, stragglers into October, often in large groups through coastal Texas. A stick nest built in a tall tree may be part of a loose colony of up to 20 pairs. Isolated colonies in New Mexico and Arizona. Facial moustache mark and more powerful flight are diagnostic.īreeding: Central Great Plains states, Gulf Coast, and up the Atlantic coast into the Carolinas. Adult peregrine falcon is larger, but shows similar silhouette in flight. Underwing coverts are gray in adults, mottled in juvenile. Tail is square-tipped, usually flared in flight. The pointed wings are notable in that the outer primary is much shorter than the next one. Subadult: body plumage similar to adult’s, but with a blend of juvenal and adult feathers, especially on tail and flight feathers in late summer/first spring. Underparts are heavily streaked, and the dark tail has multiple thin white bands. Back and wings are dark brown with buffy edges, scapulars have white spots. Juvenile: dark brown eyes in a gray-brown head, with wide, creamy superciliary line and gray cheeks. Adult female: Like male, but darker head, whitish barring on undertail coverts. Seen from above, light secondaries form a bar across the wings. IdentificationĪdult male: dark gray overall, lighter head with red eyes, dark primaries and tail. Juvenile Mississippi Kite Vocalizing While perched on a Large Branch of a Live Oak Tree in.

A buoyant flier, it soars on flat wings, often high up in the air on thermals, catching and eating insects on the wing. Find the perfect mississippi kite stock photo, image, vector. This small, pointed-winged kite looks more like a falcon than any other of our kites.