We have so much to share about Swallow-tailed Kites tracked by ARCI! Two of our 2021 Swallow-tailed Kites, both tagged on Sanibel Island, were among the first to leave the U.S.
Sanibel Botanical, a female kite, left Sanibel for pre-migration roosting and feeding in Glades and Highlands counties of Florida. On 30 July, she took off southwest from Cape Sable, Florida southwest over the Marquesas Keys. She followed the contour of western Cuba but did not make landfall until just north of Cancun, Mexico on 31 July. She moved south to the beautiful forest of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve in Quintana Roo, Mexico for eight days before continuing south.
A male kite named Bailey’s Homestead was also in Glade and Highlands counties during premigration. On 5 August he left Florida from the Ten-thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge south of Marco Island. He flew direct to Holbox, Quintana Roo, Mexico in just over 24 hours and is currently stopping over for refueling in the forested areas of Quintana Roo.
We are excited to track 10 GPS/GSM-tagged Swallow-tailed Kites this season. We are grateful to our wonderful supporters that made this research possible.
American Bird Conservancy (ABC)
bioGraphic
CROW – Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife, Inc.
Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge
Forest Investment Associates (FIA)
Friends of Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge
Friends of Palmetto Bluff Conservancy
Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges
International Paper (IP)
Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge
National Audubon Society
Orleans Audubon Society
Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management
Palm Beach Zoo and Conservation Society
Palmetto Bluff Conservancy
Resource Management Service (RMS)
Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society
Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation SCCF
St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park
St. Petersburg Audubon Society
The Avian Reconditioning Center for Birds of Prey
White Oak Forest Management
Wishing them all a safe journey!
I saw one loan kite yesterday in Gilchrist County and one loan kite here in Citrus County on 08/13. I happy to hear that two have made safely back to winter home.
This is amazing! Thank you for the update.
We have not seen any more kites here at Saddle Creek Park in Lakeland since 7/20/22, so glad to hear the first two made it safely and look forward to more updates. Thank you so much for all the efforts to monitor these amazing birds.
This is awesome! I’ll be watching for sure! Best of luck to all of these beautiful fascinating birds!❤️
I think given these tracks showing ~24 hour flight to the Yucatán, we can safely presume thousands of Kites are now in Mexico or Central America. On 8/13-18/22 Florida Keys Hawkwatch tallied >3,100 Swallow-tailleds heading SW. Now almost 48 hours later we assume these birds are somewhere south of the border now fueling up again in Mexico!
Hello! I am fairly new to the scene following the Swallow-tailed Kite. Today I am creating my travel manifest for 2023. This is rather an exciting expo. for me and I look forward to many more engaging informative conversations’. I head out to the Gulf next week- even though I many not spot one I will revel at the hopes of what next year will bring.
I miss them so much, but wish them safe travels. Hard to believe they can wing across the gulf from Florida all the way to Mexico without stopping to rest. Totally in love with these birds!
Saw a single swallow kite just now, South Titusville, Fl. Thought they were all headed south. Haven’t seen one for a while. Late one for sure.