Henry S. Fitch

“ One nest that was under observation on July 22 had nestlings approximately two-thirds grown on that date, but on August 4 only a few sticks remained, and the carcass of a fledgling dangled from a limb ten feet below the nest. Even at the Park where firearms are prohibited, kites are sometimes shot by ignorant or malicious persons. In general, Kansas ranchers recognize the harmless and beneficial habits of kites, appreciate their esthetic appeal and protect them, but many persons use them as convenient targets, with utter disregard for the Federal laws protecting them. ”

“ The kites are social in all their activities and do not maintain territories. The sexes differ little in appearance, but males are slightly smaller than females and have paler heads. Food consists almost entirely of flying insects, and these are usually eaten while the kite is in flight. Kites that are feeding nestlings may travel up to two miles from the nest or perhaps considerably farther in the course of their foraging. ”

“ After being snatched from the air, the prey is usually eaten while the kite is still in flight, and the movements of the head in pecking at the objects held in the talons are much more noticeable than the slight veering from the course of flight that signals the actual capture. Kites were often watched while they were hunting in the open areas around the Park. ”

“ For several minutes before and after delivering food, such an adult was often seen soaring within 200 to 300 yards of the nest, or sometimes much closer. A somewhat different impression was received on August 23, 1961, at Natural Bridge, south of Sun City, Barber County, Kansas, where I observed two pairs of kites feeding fledglings. One fledgling was seen to be fed ten times in a 11⁄2 hour period. The transfer of food from the adult usually required less than a minute. Then the adult would leave the tree, in a ravine, and drift away. ”

“ The kite then flew higher, circled, and swooped three times more at the dragonfly, catching it on the last attempt. Most of the insects preyed upon are slower and less elusive than dragonflies, which are largely immune to the attacks of flying predators because of their great prowess in flight.
Only on rare occasions could the kind of prey captured be observed in the field. Food habits were studied by collecting pellets of the kites at the Park, and analyzing them. The pellets were usually disgorged early in the morning while the kites were still on their night roosts in large cottonwoods. ”

“ From time to time each kite would leave the tree in a short flight low over the surface of a nearby pool, where it would snatch up prey, probably a dragonfly in many instances, and would return to a perch to feed. Most of the time one or several kites were in flight while the majority were perched. ”

“ Mississippi kites were studied in southwestern Kansas in the summer of 1961, at various localities, especially at Meade State Park. At this locality, near the northwestern limit of the breeding range, the kite thrives in typical High Plains habitat dominated by a short-grass type of vegetation, but availability of trees suitable for nests is a limiting factor. Since maturing of extensive groves of cottonwoods and other trees planted at Meade State Park, the [Pg 518] colony of kites has increased tremendously and the breeding population probably exceeded 100 in 1961. ”

“ In 89 feedings, the average visit to the nest lasted 51 seconds but this average included a few relatively long stops, up to four minutes in length, and 60 per cent of the visits were for intervals of 30 seconds or less.
Insects often protruded from the bills of the adult kites delivering food, but most of the food was carried in the throat. Sometimes the gorge was much distended, although nothing protruded from the mouth. The adult upon alighting sometimes would pass food to the nestling, and sometimes would disgorge a mass of food in the nest in front of the nestling. ”

“ However, their behavior was so much different from that of the adults that a reliable ratio could not be obtained. The fledglings tended to remain in the nest tree, or to make relatively short flights near it, while the adults occupied with catching of prey for themselves and their young, spent much of their time aloft. The adults were hence far more conspicuous than the fledglings. ”

“ The call of the fledgling is soft, with a lisping quality; that of the adult is much like it but is sharper and more piercing. Fledglings call frequently while waiting to be fed, but as an adult approaches with food, the calls are given in rapid succession and slurred to a high thin squablike squeaking or squealing. ”

“ However, on each occasion that kites were seen in numbers in early summer, the adults greatly outnumbered the juveniles. The approximate nine to one ratio of adults to yearlings seems much too high. Even if the difference is much less than indicated, the high ratio of adults to yearlings would seem to imply that the adults have a long life expectancy. A rather improbable alternative is that some of the yearlings remain in winter quarters or wander elsewhere rather than accompanying the adults on the return migration to their breeding grounds. ”

“ Young often were seen to fly out from the nest tree and maneuver in the vicinity, flying in a roughly circular course perhaps 100 feet in diameter and then returning to the nest tree, thereby familiarizing themselves with their surroundings. ”

“ The small nestlings are generally silent, but when handled or otherwise disturbed, they give soft lisping peeps. By early August, when the young have ventured from the nest bowl to nearby branches, they become vocal and their calls can be heard more often than those of the adults. ”

“ The breeding range is the southeastern United States, chiefly within the Austroriparian Life-zone, but extending northwest through much of Oklahoma and into southern Kansas. The species is highly migratory. Wintering Mississippi kites are known from Argentina and Paraguay (Eisenmann, op. cit.:74) , and most of the population probably winters in southern South America, but records outside the breeding range are few. ”

“ Ordinarily kites are not disturbed by the presence of a person at these distances, but when delivering food to the nest they seemed somewhat distracted and sometimes stopped only momentarily then left, still carrying the food. ”

“ Because of their exceptionally swift and skillful flight, the adult kites have few natural enemies, but the eggs or nestlings are vulnerable to such enemies as crows, jays, the larger hawks and owls, and to certain mammalian predators, notably raccoons. ”

“ The maximum number of kites seen flying at one time at the Park was 44, on August 22, 1961. Probably almost all there were adults, because fledglings, even though able to fly strongly by this date, were still spending most of their time perched. The colony of kites was usually scattered over at least two square miles, and at most times some were perched, others were flying low and solitarily, hence it is improbable that the total population or a high percentage of it could be seen together at any one time or place. ”

“ Along with other improvements extensive plantings of cottonwoods and other trees were made with relief labor in the nineteen thirties. Trees were scarce on the area originally, but by 1961 there were almost continuous groves in an area nearly two miles long and three quarters of a mile wide encompassing the lake and ponds and adjacent areas. In conversation at the Park in August 1961, Dr. C. W. Hibbard told me of his observations on the colony of kites since 1936 when his paleontological [Pg 507] field work in that area was begun. ”

“ Law enforcement officers do not take action even when clear-cut violations come to their attention. Arrest and prosecution for the killing of any kind of raptor is almost out of the question in Kansas.
Ratio of Immatures to Adults
In the juvenal plumage flight feathers of the kites are brown, barred with white, much different in appearance from the dark, slaty plumage of adults. Bent (op. cit.:67) stated that these barred flight feathers are retained through the second summer, and he quoted Mr. G. W. Stevens as having found kites breeding in this immature plumage. ”

“ The short time lapse between successive feedings was one indication, and from time to time while keeping nests under observation, I saw kites that were individually recognizable as the owners coursing back and forth in the vicinity. ”

“ Little has been written regarding the species in this extreme northwestern part of its breeding range, where it thrives under ecological conditions much different from those that prevail elsewhere in its range. ”