Mississippi Kites: Elegance Aloft

Abstract

Mississippi kites (Ictinia mississippiensis) are arguably one of the most abundant raptors that breed in urban and suburban areas within North America (color plate 1). Each summer, urban residents of the southern Great Plains can look skyward and see a dazzling number of these long-winged raptors soaring effortlessly overhead and swooping and diving to catch their aerial insect prey. In urban areas of the southern Great Plains, where kites are abundant, up to five pairs have been documented nesting within the area of a single city block. Such high densities are likely products of both Mississippi kite natural history and the environmental history of the southern Great Plains. Although Mississippi kites appear well-adapted to the southern Great Plains, their past distribution within this ecoregion was likely much more limited prior to settlement by persons of European descent.