A slight depression holds the 2 white eggs, boldly blotched or spotted with shades of brown. The nests are placed near the top of tall trees and constructed of sticks and twigs, interspersed with Spanish moss and leaves. Swallow-tailed Kites breed in Texas from sea level to 230 m (750 ft) in bottomland forests with nearby open areas, freshwater marshes skirting large lakes and pine glades adjoining cypress swamps (Oberholser 1974). Fall movemen of these kites takes place between late August and mid-October (Oberholser 1974, Lockwood and Freeman 2004).īREEDING HABIAT. Breeding occurs from late February to early July, based on egg collection dates extending from March 10 to June 7. Most Swallow-tailed Kites arrive in Texas from mid-March to early May when they are rare to uncommon. Breeding also occurs from South Mexico to Argentina with the species wintering in South America (Howell and Webb 1995, Meyer 1995, Am. Swallow-tailed Kites also breed along the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains from South Carolina to Louisiana (Sauer et al. During the 1987-1992 field work seasons of the TBBA project, atlasers found 6 confirmed, 4 probable and 29 possible breeding sites, almost all in southeast Texas near the coast and the lower Sabine River in the Pineywoods and Coastal Prairies regions (see the region map in Lockwood and Freeman ). From here they prey on flying insects or snatch birds and reptiles from tree canopies or emergent vegetation (Meyer 1995).ĭISTRIBUTION. Swallow-tailed Kites are fascinating to observe as they hover over treetops or open areas, with wings motionless, but tails twisting to maintain their position in the wind. The reasons for the dramatic range loss in the United States are not well understood, but may involve habitat change (Meyer 1995). These elegantly plumaged, graceful kites, once summer residents of much of the eastern half of Texas, are sadly, now restricted to a small, at least by Texas standards, area in the southeast corner of the state as the map below shows.
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