Three Palm Beach County Swallow-tailed Kites make a safe flight across the Gulf of Mexico and return to breeding territories.

WOW! Swallow-tailed Kites are back and getting busy with nest building and laying eggs.  We highlight the northbound migration of three GSM-GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites from Palm Beach County. Palm Beach County Environmental Resource Management and the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society have been outstanding partners in this effort. The Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society, in conjunction with long-time Zoo sponsor Florida Power & Light Company, have generously provided funding for the solar-powered GSM-GPS transmitters needed to continue this conservation effort.

Cypress was our first kite to return to Palm Beach County.  If you remember last August, he was the last one of these three to leave Florida.  He crossed from Honduras straight north on 11 March and even though he was within sight of the Yucatán Peninsula, he did not land and instead used the mega tailwind to push him north to the Big Bend area of Florida after only two days over the Gulf of Mexico.  That was a fast flight! With favorable winds to fly back south through the Florida peninsula, he got to Palm Beach County the next day on 14 March.

Juno made the leap over the Bay of Honduras on St. Patrick’s Day, 17 March. It took her a day to reach the NE tip of the Yucatán. There, she “tested” the winds for a favorable water crossing for three days before the winds were right to get her across the Gulf of Mexico. She still fought some winds for two days before landing in Alabama on 23 March.  It took her six days over land to return to her breeding area on 29 March.

Lox 22 took a much more conservative route crossing some of the Bay of Honduras but mostly flying over land through Belize and Mexico. He left the NE tip of the Yucatán on 25 March, four days after Juno, but had favorable winds that guided him straight to Pinellas County, Florida in a day. He was back on territory in Palm Beach County by 27 March, two days ahead of Juno.

We are fortunate to be able to track and monitor these beautiful Swallow-tailed Kites, and we are glad to be able to share their migration stories with you. Thanks to CTT for the technology that brings us these insights on the lives of Swallow-tailed Kites.

If you are seeing Swallow-tailed Kite nesting activity, we would love to know about it.  You can report your sightings here,  or even help monitor the nesting activity with our Eyes on Kites program. Thanks to our collaborators and sponsors and all of you for your interest and support.