Swallow-tailed Kite
Elanoides forficatus

By Rajiv Jauhari

Featured Photo by Donald Wuori/Audubon Photography Awards, downloaded from audubon.netx.net

While many raptor species are hard to identify in flight, the Swallow-tailed Kite is not among them. Its deeply forked tail and high-contrast black and white plumage make it hard to mistake this species for any other. These kites fly gracefully, often appearing to hover or hang in the air, as though they have plenty of time to get where they intend to go.

There are two subspecies of Swallow-tailed Kites. The northern subspecies breeds in the southeastern United States, between far east Texas, Florida and the Carolinas, and winters in South America. In the past its breeding range extended to many more states all the way into the upper Midwest, but loss of habitat has reduced the range to seven states. The southern subspecies breeds from southern Mexico to South America and is migratory in the northern part of its range.

Photo by Peter Brannon/Audubon Photography Awards, downloaded from audubon.netx.net

Swallow-tailed Kites typically eat insects, frogs, nestling birds, lizards and snakes, although sometimes they can also eat bats, fruit or small fish. They capture their prey with their feet while in flight by gleaning from the surface of vegetation or snatching flying insects with barely perceptible strikes of their feet. The kites can display impressive acrobatics while hunting: they continually flick and rotate their tails, switching from a straight course to a tight turn in an instant. They can even roll and dive backwards to catch insects they have passed in flight. In Florida, the kites sometimes return to their nests with whole wasp nests, eat the wasp larvae, and add the insect’s nest into their own nests.

The physical structure of the landscape appears to be more important for their habitat than specific vegetation or topography: they need the association of tall trees for nesting with open areas that provide sufficient easily subdued prey.

Photo by James Gray/Audubon Photography Awards, downloaded from audubon.netx.net

The sexes are similar in plumage and size. These kites are apparently monogamous. Early in the breeding season, they occupy and refurbish old nests. However, these appear to be temporary accommodations, as they usually end up building a new nest nearby and laying eggs in these new nests. The nests are usually high in the tops of prominent trees and are built jointly by both sexes using small sticks and epiphytes.

According to the American Bird Conservancy, there are only about 4,500 Swallow-tailed Kites in the U.S. Most of the world’s approximately 150,000 Swallow-tailed Kites can be found in Central and South America. Should you be lucky enough to see some of these birds on the wing, it will make your day.

References:

https://birdsoftheworld.org
http://allaboutbirds.org
https://abcbirds.org/bird/swallow-tailed-kite/