Parental Care and Diet of Mississippi Kites (Ictinia mississippiensis) in Eastern Arkansas

Abstract

Few studies have quantified parental care patterns and diets of Mississippi Kites (Ictinia mississippiensis). Using video-recording systems, we quantified and analyzed nesting Mississippi Kite parental care and food delivery in eastern Arkansas. During the incubation period, male kites appeared to spend more time ( = 311.8 min/day, SE = 30.27) on the nest than females ( = 249.6 min/day, SE = 30.62), though the difference was not statistically significant. Females spent significantly more time on the nest during the brooding period than did males. Female kites also spent significantly more time shading nestlings than males. The amount of time that females stayed on the nest overnight during the incubation ( = 886 min/night) and brooding periods ( = 815 min/night) was longer than that of males ( = 806 and 739 min/night, respectively). Male kites delivered more food items (58%) than females (42%) and also delivered significantly more vertebrate food items than did females. Insects were the most common type of food items (80%) delivered to nests. Vertebrates made up 5% of the food items, and the remaining 15% could not be identified. Our data indicated differential sex-division in parental contributions by male and female Mississippi Kites, but a similar contribution in terms of overall parental effort.