Insects like dragonflies, cicadas, wasps, bees, crickets, and beetles are their primary food. Swallow-tailed Kites are graceful, acrobatic hunters and they usually catch their prey mid-air. Also, summer is the best time to see them since they migrate to South America for the winter. Swallow-tailed Kites almost always spend their time in flight so it’s best to look skyward when looking for them. When nesting, look for them in tall trees around open areas with an abundance of small prey to feed their young. You can find Swallow-tailed Kites in swamps, marshes, and humid, lowland forests. Swallow-tailed Kites are predominantly resident in South America but they breed around the Gulf Coast of the United States. Juveniles are paler in comparison and their tails are not that deeply forked. Their long, forked tails resemble a swallow’s hence the name “swallow-tailed”. Their underwings are both black and white. Males and females look similar and have white heads and underparts and black bills, flight feathers, tails, and feet. Swallow-tailed Kites are large but slender birds of prey that are most often seen hovering in the skies with their distinctive forked tail. They were last spotted around Dennysville in 2019. Swallow-tailed Kites are extremely rare in Maine and are considered accidental species in the state. There are many types of birds of prey that can be spotted in Maine, including owls, hawks, eagles, and vultures. In North America, they are found mostly in southern states. Kites can be found worldwide but are more in warmer regions. However, they are both accidental species here. There are 2 species of kites in Maine that have been spotted and they are the Swallow-tailed Kite and the Mississippi Kite. They spend a lot of time soaring looking for prey, so looking up is a great way to spot them, even on car journeys. Kites are small birds of prey that are known for their amazing ability to fly into the wind and hover, which is known as kiting.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |