Report Kites

[JABIII]

Public asked to report sightings of endangered swallow-tailed kite

The swallow-tailed kite is an endangered-species in South Carolina and considered a species of highest conservation concern throughout its breeding range in North America.

Help the South Carolina Working Group for Swallow-tailed Kites monitor swallow-tailed kite distribution, identify important nesting and foraging areas, and promote conservation of this important species and their habitats by reporting sightings this spring and summer and contributing to the Citizen-Science for Swallow-tailed Kite database. Call toll free 1-888-296-4732 to report a swallow-tailed kite sighting or go to the form. Find out more about the kite (pdf file), its range and conservation efforts at the DNR site.

This bird is unmistakable with its narrow, 4-foot wingspan and long; 10-inch forked outer tail feathers. The dorsal coloration is black while the head and underparts are white. Average weight for adults is a little over 1 pound, with females being slightly heavier than males.

The kite currently occupies a remnant breeding range of seven, possibly eight, Southern states that historically included at least 21 states as far north as Minnesota. It is found in floodplain forests and other large tracts of forested wetlands/mixed pine habitats of the outer coastal plain from South Carolina to east Texas. The estimated number of breeding pairs in South Carolina is 120 to 170; these are primarily found in large floodplain forests and swamps of the outer coastal plain, with significant populations occurring on the lower Great Pee Dee, Santee, Edisto and Savannah rivers and in the Francis Marion National Forest.

Primary challenges to the swallow-tailed kite are wetland loss and drainage. Specific threats along its migration routes and wintering grounds in southern Brazil are unknown at this time, but significant land use changes could negatively impact the species.

The disappearance of the swallow-tailed kite from three-fourths of its U.S. breeding range between 1880 and 1910 was one of the most dramatic range contractions of any bird before the post-WW II peregrine falcon crash. Since about 1940, populations have apparently stabilized with some evidence of a modest range expansion into former habitat, such as eastern Texas and parts of coastal South Carolina.

South Carolina’s goal is about 400 nesting pairs statewide. The areas most likely to contain swallow-tailed kites are the Pee Dee and Savannah rivers, Francis Marion National Forest, the ACE Basin and associated floodplains.

[Gunning Bird]

These are really cool birds... Some day I may have to carve one...

[2thDoc]

saw a pair of mississippi kites at my place the other day. at least, that's what i think they were.

[DUCKMAN]

There are a bunch of those along the Congaree Toofer - Freddies big field is loaded with them.

[Catdaddy]

Quite a few at the CCSC golf course. It's on the edge of the Pee Dee Swamp along Black creek.

[Sportin' Woodies]

they love to follow a bush hog around.
usually see one or a pair in august.

[Sashimi]

Soaked in buttermilk and fried in House Autry, they taste very similar to spotted owl, and are only slighty different than an Ivory-billed wood-pecker.

[btduckcall]

sashi i really thought more like chicken at first, but you know what? you are right on the money with the spotted owl

[bdog94tiger01]

I can say that pretty much about every time I go out on the Savannah River (Allendale County) that I'll see one or two... I love seeing those birds...

And to refute the above two posts, they don't taste like chicken or spotted owl, I liken it more to tasting like Ivory Billed Woodpecker...

[tradorion]

i used to love seeing bald eagles- then the first year i became a GW i saw my first swallow tail kite and have been awed by them ever since-- they are incredible.

T

[ftroop82]

Watched one for a long time here a week ago.

33°14'21.68"N
79°43'39.08"W

[GMAC]

Mississippi Kites are pretty cool as well, if not so rare or dramatic in appearance. I've had them following the tractor as I was disking in heavy weeds. Their aerial maneuvers as they swoop in from high altitude, at high speed, to deftly snatch a grasshopper right behind the disks are breathtaking. Then they eat on the wing before coming in for another high speed pass.

[peedeeman]

It's almost a given that you'll see them on a trip on Big Pee Dee.Usually 3 or 4 at a time.I'm glad that's a toll free number.

[peedeeman]

Saw a group of five Saturday.

[Rubberhead*]

Originally posted by ftroop82:
Watched one for a long time here a week ago.

33°14'21.68"N
79°43'39.08"W

They're are usually some worm-eating warblers there too during migration. Listen for the dry trill that sounds a little like a pine warbler.

[Greco]

TKRuffdog and I spotted one while planting the duck pond last Saturday. Bad ass looking birds! Just called it in to the number listed above.

[Turd Ferguson]

Bird watcher spots S.C.'s first snail kite
The Associated Press
Related Content

COLUMBIA, S.C. --
A bird watcher spotted the endangered snail kite in South Carolina for the first time, and the animal's steady diet of crawfish may help scientists find the species an alternate food source, wildlife officials said.

The snail kite is an endangered species seldom seen north of central Florida. The bird is on the endangered species list in part because of the shrinking habitat of its main food source, the apple snail.

The bird's taste for crawfish surprised scientists, and it could lead to experiments with crawfish ponds in Florida.

Lloyd Moon, 76, first spotted the bird last week at a crawfish farm near Rimini, about 35 miles southeast of Columbia.

Moon hunkered down at one of his normal birding sites May 14, expecting to spend a few hours before heading to an appointment in Charleston. He spotted a small, gray raptor unlike any he had seen before.

"I reached for my camera, and before I turned back around, he was gone," Moon said.

He didn't have time to search for the bird, but he came back the next day and so did the bird.

When it finally turned toward Moon, he could see the bird's yellow-and-red coloration, verifying what he had suspected.

The bird, oblivious to enthusiasts snapping photos, seems to enjoy the spotlight and has stuck around for others to come see it.

The South Carolina Bird Records Committee will verify Moon's find, said panel member Nathan Dias, executive director of Cape Romain Bird Observatory.

"This guy is doing the species a favor," Dias said of the bird. "He's a trailblazer."

Adding a bird to a state's list of confirmed species is every birder's dream.

"I can't think of anybody who's seen a rarer bird," Moon said.