The Mississippi Kite is well known for its graceful flight. Its foraging behavior is described below. It holds its wings quite flat with only the primary tips slightly upturned. It can hover like an American Kestrel and may dive or stoop vertically for several hundred feet at high speed. Occasionally it will rise, alone or in a flock, so high above ground that it becomes lost from view. It is not a conspicuous bird, however, and can be overlooked even in urban situations. The Mississippi Kite is gregarious and is rather tame around people.
The Mississippi Kite hunts in flight and by hawking from a perch. Hunting flights are invariably described as elegant and graceful with the kite effortlessly soaring, circling at various altitudes, and catching even fast flying prey, usually large insects, with slight, easy movements such as a turn, a rise or fall, a half barrel roll, and a quick foot extension to seize the prey. Characteristically a kite will suddenly spread its tail when sighting prey, hang for a second in midair, then close its tail and coast downward to capture the insect in its talons. The insect or other prey item is then held in the toes while the bird consumes it, often discarding inedible parts. Soaring depends upon suitable air currents found most commonly as the day warms; therefore, soaring is generally the most frequent foraging pattern used during the middle of the day. Hawking from a perch usually involves a kite suddenly leaving its perch - often bare, dead branches above the canopy- to make a short, quick flight (< 16 yards) after prey which is either flying or on foliage. Hawking from a perch is the common foraging type early and late in the day, during windy or dead calm weather and while parents are feeding nestlings. Most foraging is done within a third of a mile of the nest. One study reported 96 percent of prey delivered from hunting within 450 feet (140 meters) of the nest. Occasionally, in response to a concentration of food at some distant location, kites as individuals or a group will leave a nesting colony to travel up to five miles (8 kilometers) directly across country to another area to forage. Kites also land on the ground, often near streams and, besides bathing and drinking, may also be attempting to catch amphibians. Sometimes kites will course harrier style low over prairies in search of prey. Kites also follow large mammals such as bison, horses, deer and people, which unintentionally act as beaters, scaring up insects for the kites to seize. Mississippi Kites will also follow a fire edge like harriers and several other raptors do, catching fleeing prey. Individuals also pursue bats in flight. Several people have fed flying Mississippi Kites by throwing large insects into the air for them.
It appears that the Mississippi Kite does not defend a nesting territory from other members of its species. It commonly nests in colonies often of four to six nests (individual nesting has also been widely reported). The proximity of nests to each other vary from one region to the next. The closest nests, averaging 377 feet (117 meters) apart were reported in shelterbelts on the Great Plains. Nests as close as 43 feet (13 meters) have been reported. In Arizona nests were on average 400 to 1800 feet (124 to 558 meters) apart. Individuals will band together to defend nests and colonies with calling, pursuit, and high speed diving at the intruding predator. Mississippi Kites have been reported responding very aggressively toward Great Horned Owls, striking them and forcing them to the ground.
Mississippi Kites will defend their colony against other birds of prey. They will also engage in joint attacks against people too close to the nests though reactions vary according to individual birds and time of nesting. Kites seem to be most aggressive toward humans at hatching time or shortly thereafter. Kites will dive at, and sometimes strike people near the nest tree. When several birds engage in such behavior simultaneously the effect can be dramatic.
The courtship of the Mississippi Kite is poorly known. Courtship may occur on the wintering grounds or on migration prior to the kites' arrival on the breeding grounds. More study is required. A swoop display and ritualized posturing by two adults perched on a branch have been reported, as well as pursuit flights with squeals and chipperings. Copulation is usually proceeded by the male offering food to the female. Copulation may also occur without preliminaries as the two birds perch side by side. Copulation is brief. The female shows no marked posturing. The duration of the pair bond is not known.
The oldest, wild Mississippi Kite is known to have lived to be eight years old. It is suspected that mortality rates are highest in the individual's two years of life but thereafter a bird might live as long as an additional eight or nine years. Causes of mortality among fledged birds include shooting, formerly much commoner than it is today, though kites harassing people near their nesting colonies are sometimes shot. Among nesting birds egg-collecting was a significant cause of reproductive failure. Nest predators include fox, squirrels, raccoons, bobcats, American Crows, Swainson's Hawks, and Great Horned Owls. Snakes, and several other species of birds and mammals, may also be nest predators.
ADAPTATIONS
The Mississippi Kite feeds mostly upon insects. When the cold weather of North America's fall and winter arrive, insect life becomes very hard to find. A major adaptation to insect scarcity is the kite's migration to South America where it can enjoy austral spring and summer. The kite also arrives on its North American breeding grounds much later than do most other North American raptors, matching its nesting efforts to the maximum abundance of insects in early summer. Another adaptation to its colonial nesting habits is colonial nest defense, wherein most flying members of the colony band together to harass potential predators.
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Copulation preceeded by male
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