Mississippi Kite

Ictinia mississippiensis

Perhaps Missouri's most graceful bird of prey, the Mississippi Kite glides, swoops and turns in the aerial search for insects. Never stopping to hover like its cousin the White-tailed Kite, it continually pursues insects. Throughout much of their range, Mississippi Kites nest in the canopies of large riparian forests.

Code Frequency

The few nests observed in Missouri have typically been in the tops of tall trees in dense forests. Therefore, although the species is conspicuous and easily identified, locating nests is difficult. Mississippi Kites presumably nested in some of the blocks where sighted.

Distribution

The majority of sightings occurred along the Mississippi River south of Cape Girardeau and in the St. Louis area, with most nests near rivers. Results from the Atlas Project echo the historical range described by Widmann (1907). Scattered sightings in southwestern Missouri also followed the pattern Widmann described. In years following the Atlas Project, nests were located in the Joplin and Kansas City areas.

Abundance

Most records occurred along the Mississippi River and in public wetland areas in the Mississippi Lowlands. A few nest sites probably occurred farther north along the Mississippi River to Pike County where both adults and young have been seen. A report of 300 birds over the Mississippi River in New Madrid and Mississippi counties on May 16, 1991 (Wilson, 1991a) illustrates the gregarious nature of this species, which seems to form loose nesting colonies.

Phenology

Information from the Atlas Project was insufficient to define the phenology of this species. According to Robbins and Easterla (1992) migrants arrive by late April to early May and depart by September.

Breeding Evidence

Reported in 6 (<1%) of 1,207 blocks

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