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
After weeks of radio silence while Swallow-tailed Kites have been crossing oceans and traversing through remote forests in Central and South America, we are starting to get cellular uploads of the GPS tracking data from some kites since our August 19 update.
Cinco: Female, tagged in 2023 from Collier County, Florida moved quickly through Central America, slowed down in Colombia and steadily moved through the Amazon to the State of Rondônia, Brazil.
Jupiter a male tagged in 2025, from Palm Beach County, Florida, has just entered Amazonas, Brazil.
Cypress: a male tagged in 2022, from Palm Beach County, Florida, last reported from the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica in late August.
Peter’s Creek: tagged in 2021, from Georgetown County, South Carolina has made it to Limón, Costa Rica about 10 days after Cypress.
Simmon’s Creek tagged in 2023, in Georgetown County, South Carolina has crossed the Colombian Andes and has entered northern Peru.
Snuffbox Canal: Male, tagged in 2023, from McIntosh County, Georgia has followed the western side of the Andes Mountains and is expected to reach Peru in the next day or two.
Barrington: Male, tagged in 2023, from McIntosh County, Georgia checked in recently near Cali, Colombia, where he’s following a similar track to Snuffbox Canal along the western side of the Andes Mountains.
Townsend: Male, tagged in 2025, from McIntosh County, Georgia was the last of the GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites to migrate. On 27 August he started south from Georgia and by 1 September was in Cuba where he stayed four nights before flying to Cancun, Mexico. Currently, he is on the northern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula.
The following Swallow-tailed Kites have not uploaded location data for weeks. They presumably are in areas without cell coverage. Once they return within range of cell service, they will be able to transmit the stored data and location information.
Suwannee Scout: Male, tagged in 2025, from Levy, County, last location was in Glades County on 16 August.
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.
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.
Astor: Female, tagged in 2025, from Lake County, crossed the Andes Mountains in Colombia.
Luckey Buck, tagged in 2025 in Palm Beach County, last updated data in Quintana Roo, Mexico.
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.
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 Straits of Florida to Cuba. She has continued south through Mexico and Belize and last reported from the Guatemalan coast.
*All captures, banding, and tagging of Swallow-tailed Kites are done safely under current federal, state, and local permits.
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
Leave a Reply