ARCI and Orleans Audubon Society (OAS) are tracking Swallow-tailed Kites not only to monitor the roosts, foraging areas, stopover sites, and winter destinations, but also to see how they use public and private lands throughout the Southeastern States. We are grateful to our funders and project partners for making this research possible.
We are reporting on 16 kites tagged and tracked by ARCI
Sanibel Botanical: Female, tagged in 2021from Lee County, Florida. Currently one of the longest tracked GPS-tagged kites. She was last in Glades County, Florida on 27 July. Presumably she has made the flight to Central America and remains far from any cell towers to upload her data.
Periwinkle: Male, tagged in 2025, from Lee County, Florida was last in Collier County on 6 August, on a southbound track most likely on his way to cross the Gulf on his way to Mexico.
Cinco: Female, tagged in 2023 from Collier County, Florida last reported from Nicaragua on 1 August.
Suwannee Scout: Male, tagged in 2025, from Levy, County, is still in Levy County.
Astor: Female, tagged in 2025, from Lake County, Florida is the farthest from Florida, already safely crossed the Andes Mountains in Colombia.
Two males from Palm Beach County, Florida: Cypress tagged in 2022, and Luckey Buck, tagged in 2025 are both still in Palm Beach County.
Luckey Lox, female, tagged in 2022, from Palm Beach County, Florida was the first GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed to leave Florida, last reporting from Paimado, Colombia just prior to crossing the Andes Mountains.
Martin a male, tagged in 2025, from Palm Beach County, left Florida on 3 August heading south from the Everglades National Park. Presumably she has made the flight to Central America and remains far from any cell towers to upload her data.
On 6 August, like Periwinkle, Jupiter a male tagged in 2025, from Palm Beach County, Florida, left Palm Beach on a southbound track most likely going to cross the Gulf.
Peter’s Creek: tagged in 2021, and Simmon’s Creek tagged in 2023, both from Georgetown County are still in South Carolina on the Great Pee Dee River. Both are northwest of their breeding area. Simmon’s Creek is about 20 miles north of Peter’s Creek.
Barrington: Male, tagged in 2023, from McIntosh County, Georgia spent pre-migration on the Altamaha River and started south through Florida on 12 August. Last location was in Highlands County.
Snuffbox Canal: Male, tagged in 2023, from McIntosh County, Georgia moved into central Florida in late July to spend some pre-migration time feeding and resting for the long migration. He started south again on 14 August and is also in Highlands County like Barrington.
Sweet Water: Female, tagged in 2024, from Burke County, Georgia, made it safe to the Yucatan on 12 August after a slow headwind across the Straights of Florida to Cuba.
Townsend: Male, tagged in 2025, from McIntosh County, Georgia has spent pre-migration between the Altamaha, Savannah, and North Fork Edisto Rivers in Georgia and South Carolina and is still on the Savannah River.
*All captures, banding, and tagging of Swallow-tailed Kites are done safely under current federal, state, and local permits.
Most of these Swallow-tailed Kites are being tracked through the GSM-cellular network thus, when they are not near cell towers, they cannot upload their data. They only attempt to upload data once a day to save battery power on their solar powered units made by Cellular Tracking Technologies and Ornitela and during these big stretches over mountains, rainforest, and vast wilderness, they are far from a cellular connection. The location data is stored until they are within cell range to upload the stored data.
Wishing all Swallow-tailed Kites great tailwinds for a safe migration!
Keep tuned as we will be sharing updates on their migration to South America. Meanwhile, the 2025 Swallow-tailed Kite population monitoring survey period is currently taking place. We hope you will report where you are seeing kites to add “your” kites to the U.S. population count. That form can be found here.
This work would not be possible without our dedicated supporters and collaborators. For our current GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites we thank:
American Bird Conservancy (ABC)
The Avian Reconditioning Center for Birds of Prey
Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program
Cellular Tracking Technologies CTT GSM-GPS transmitters
Florida Ornithological Society
Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge
Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges
Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge
Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge
Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge
McDaniel Charitable Foundation
Merrit Island Wildlife Association
Microwave Telemetry, Inc. Satellite transmitters
National Fish and Wildlife Federation
Ornitela GSM-GPS transmitters
Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management
Palm Beach Zoo and Conservation Society
Parkside Elementary School, Collier Co. Florida
Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society
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