Stepping onto our back deck last evening, I caught site of three hawks circling in the distance. Initially assuming they were red-tails, I soon realized that they were smaller, more agile birds. Though they did not manifest the jerky flight of nighthawks, I was leaning toward that identification when one of them suddenly went into a steep dive before careening upward to rejoin the others. Wondering if they might be falcons, I rushed in to grab my binoculars and was able to study their distant forms in more detail; their long, tapered wings were relatively narrow and dark colored, their bodies were light gray and their buteo-like tail was black. Our mystery visitors were, in fact, Mississippi kites.
Recently confined to southern regions of the U.S., these raptors have spread to the north and west, now inhabiting open woodlands and tree-studded wetlands from Iowa to southeast Colorado and from the Desert Southwest to the Gulf Coast. Highly sociable, they often nest in colonies, building platforms of sticks and grass in trees near open fields or marshlands. Like nighthawks, they feed on large, flying insects and are frequently observed in groups, soaring and diving above their feeding grounds.
By late summer, Mississippi kites congregate in large flocks and soon depart for wintering areas in South America. My chance encounter yesterday has reminded me of their presence in central Missouri and I'll be sure to watch for these aerial acrobats on my local field trips.
