The Kite Has Landed

Bald eagles, hawks, owls and ospreys get a great deal of attention but of all of the raptors, the kites are often ignored. Part of the lack of enthusiasm for Swallow-tailed Kites (Elanoides forficatus) is that they never seem to land. As soon as morning thermal updrafts develop they take to the sky and soar like a kite – rarely flapping their wings. (In truth, the toy is named after the bird). Just a warm summer breeze and both are carried aloft.

The Swallow-tailed Kite has a deeply forked tail which they use to exercise amazing twists and turns. Their prey includes dragonflies and other aeronautic insects which the birds catch and eat while in the air. They swoop from the sky and take unsuspecting birds, lizards and other terrestrial prey, taking no time to rest  and enjoy their meal.

Another possible reason many people don’t get wild for Swallow-tailed Kites is the snow white bellied birds return from South America from roughly April through August when the southeastern United States is heating up. The Kites arrive just as the bird watching season wanes. When it’s 95 degrees out, the birds are out while the people are in.

On my Sunday morning bike ride in the Corkscrew Regional Watershed Ecosystem’s Bird Rookery Unit, We inadvertently spooked a flock of kites roosting in a dead maple tree. This was the first one I have ever seen perched, which gave me the chance to check out a well curved beak and navy blue wings that look like a five year old had colored sloppily over the lines.

In a few weeks the Swallow-tailed Kites will begin to gather before migrating south. People that hadn’t noticed they were here are missing out. Those that saw a bird fly by and paid no mind are too. But those that realize what they are looking at know what a special bird it is. See you next year STKs.    

Chew Your Food - The Swallow-tailed Kite

How long does it take to eat a few cheeseburgers and a shake? If you’re going to eat junk food you should eat least take the time to savor the grade D beef and triple-thick, corn syrup shake that requires a ¼ inch wide straw to drink it through. I watched incredulously the other day as the man in the car next to me at an intersection devoured his lunch like a gator eating a softshell turtle. Chomp. Swallow. Next.  Eating really should take place in front of the television as nature intended it.

Just as I take exception to the feeding habits of carbivores, I wonder how much enjoyment eating is for the Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus). I’ve never seen a STK that wasn’t in flight. I’ve never seen a Skunk Ape or a Florida Panther either but I think I may see one or both of those first. It’s that rare.  

Just about everyone has flown a kite, the string-tethered toy that can stay aloft for hours if the wind and operator cooperate. The toy is named after the bird of which there are several species found around the globe. Here in Florida we have the Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis), Mississippi Kite (Ictinia mississippiensis) and the split-tailed STK. All of them ride updrafts and thermals to stay aloft, mixed with the occasional wing flap, but the STK feeds on the wing, meaning the dragonflies and other flying insects they enjoy noshing on are caught and eaten as they fly. They also swoop to capture lizards from the treetops.

The Kite pictured here was one of five STKs circling above me at the Harns Marsh in Lehigh Acres, FL. This one appears to be a juvenile. The tail is shorter than a typical adult’s tail and the fanned tail feathers don’t have the pronounced fork like the adults do. The birds cried a wheezy ki-ki-ki  as they picked off dragonflies above the marsh, each twitch of the tail gracefully steering the bird into a smooth banking turn, dive or ascent. Within seconds of noticing me, the birds were 100 feet higher, apparently not appreciating being watched as they ate.

The guy eating his lunch in traffic had no such qualms.