Mississippi kites communicate using two different whistle-like calls. One call has been described as a two syllable “phee phew” with the first note short and rising and the second longer and downwards. The other call has been described as "phee-ti-ti."
Communication Channels: visual ; acoustic
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Mississippi kites are not federally threatened or endangered. In fact, their overall numbers are stable or increasing. However, they are still threatened in some states by habitat destruction or disturbance.
Mississippi kites are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and CITES Appendix II.
US Migratory Bird Act: protected
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: appendix ii
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Adult Mississippi kites become very aggressive when their nests contain young. They may defend their nest from perceived threats, including humans, by diving at them. As a result, they are seen as unwelcome guests in many places.
Negative Impacts: injures humans
Mississippi kites help to control populations of insects that are agricultural pests.
Positive Impacts: controls pest population
Mississippi kites impact the populations of the prey they eat, particularly grasshoppers and dragonflies.
Some Mississippi kites show a commensal relationship several other species. For example, Mississippi kite nests are often found with wasp nests near or on the kite nests. The wasps probably provide protection to kites against climbing predators. Several smaller bird species, including house sparrows, northern mockingbirds and blue jays often build nests on or near Mississippi kite nests.
Ecosystem Impact: creates habitat
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
Mississippi kites are primarily insectivores. Their favorite foods are insects in the orders Orthoptera (grasshoppers) and Odonata (dragonflies). This species also eats small snakes, frogs, lizards, small birds, bats, and fish. Kites usually hunt within 400 meters of their nests, and can eat while flying. Mississippi kites sometimes follow large mammals and feed on insects that they flush.
Animal Foods: birds; mammals; amphibians; reptiles; fish; insects
Primary Diet: carnivore (Eats terrestrial vertebrates, Insectivore )
Mississippi kites breed in Arizona and the southern Great Plains, east to the Carolinas and south to the Gulf Coast. They are found in the largest numbers in the central states of Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Over the past ten years, the range of Mississippi kites has increased, and the species has been seen wandering as far north as New England in the spring and to the tropics in the winter. Mississippi kites migrate to the tropics or subtropical areas in South America, southern Florida or southern Texas for the winter.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )
In the central plains and southwest part of their breeding habitat, Mississippi kites live in mature bottomland forests with mixed hardwood trees. They prefer large tracts of forest near to open habitat such as pastures or agricultural fields. In the south-central Great Plains, Mississippi kites prefer woodlands and oak savannas mixed with prairie.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest
Other Habitat Features: suburban ; agricultural ; riparian
The oldest known wild Mississippi kite lived 11 years.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 11 (high) years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 134 months.
Mississippi kites are small falcon-shaped birds of prey. Females are larger than males, ranging from 34.5 to 37 cm in total length and 270 to 388 g. Males range from 34 to 36 cm in length and weigh 214 to 304 g. The wingspan of adult Mississippi kites ranges from 75 to 83 cm (average 79 cm). They are grey and black in color, with a light grey head and underparts, and dark grey to black backs and upperwing coverts. In addition to being larger, females tend to have a darker head and shoulders than males. Mississippi kites have red eyes with a black area around the eyes and yellow to red legs. Their wings are narrow and pointed, and wing tips and tail are black. This coloration helps distinguish these kites from other raptors in flight.
Immature Mississippi kites look very different from adults. They have white or buff heads, necks and undersides heavily streaked with brown and black. Their upper body and wings are dull black with some light colored edging on the feathers. The tails of juvenile Mississippi kites have three thin white stripes on the underside. They retain this juvenile plumage until their second fall.
Adult Mississippi kites are occasionally mistaken for northern harriers, but they do not have the white rump or broad and pale body of northern harriers. Immature birds are sometimes confused with the young of broad-winged hawks and peregrine falcons.
Range mass: 214 to 388 g.
Range length: 34 to 37 cm.
Range wingspan: 75 to 83 cm.
Sexual Dimorphism: female larger; sexes colored or patterned differently
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Mississippi kite eggs, chicks and adults are vulnerable to predation by raccoons and fox squirrels. Other known predators of eggs and chicks include great horned owls, hawks (family Accipitridae), ants, blue jays, American crows, common grackles, snakes (suborder Serpentes) and greater roadrunners.
Known Predators:
Mississippi kites are monogamous. They form pairs before arriving at the breeding grounds or soon after arriving. Courtship displays are rare. However, individuals have been observed guarding their mate from competitors.
Mating System: monogamous
Mississippi kites breed once per year between May and July. Most individuals begin breeding at age 2. Males and females form pairs before arriving at their breeding site around mid-May. Five to seven days after arriving, they begin to build a nest or refurbish an old nest. They prefer to have a high nest in the fork of a tree, 3 to 30 meters from the ground. When building their nest they sometimes choose a location surrounded with wasps and bees, which ward off botflies that attack their young. The flat, bulky nest is constructed of small twigs and sticks with a lining of Spanish moss.
The female lays 1 to 3 eggs (usually 2), and begins incubating as soon as the first egg is laid. Both parents incubate the eggs for 29 to 32 (usually 30) days. The newly hatched chicks are altricial, and are brooded nearly constantly by the parents for the first 4 days. Both parents bring food to the chicks for at least six weeks. The chicks begin to leave the nest at about 25 days old, and begin flying at 30 to 35 days old. Most juveniles become independent of their parents within 10 days of fledging.
Breeding interval: Mississippi kites breed once per year
Breeding season: Mississippi kites breed between May and July.
Range eggs per season: 1 to 3.
Range time to hatching: 29 to 32 days.
Average time to hatching: 30 days.
Range fledging age: 25 to 30 days.
Range time to independence: 35 to 40 days.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 1 to 2 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 2 years.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 1 to 2 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 2 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization ; oviparous
Average eggs per season: 2.
Both parents incubate the eggs, and brood the chicks for the first few days after hatching. Both parents bring food to the chicks for at least six weeks. For the first week or so, parents regurgitate insects for the young chicks. After this initial period, the parents offer insect parts and parts of vertebrates to the chicks for a period of about 4 days, after which whole prey items are brought to the nest for the chicks.
Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Protecting: Male, Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female)
The Mississippi kite (Ictinia mississippiensis) is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Mississippi kites have narrow, pointed wings and are graceful in flight, often appearing to float in the air. It is common to see several circling in the same area.
The Mississippi kite was first named and described by the Scottish ornithologist Alexander Wilson in 1811, in the third volume of his American Ornithology.[2][3] Wilson gave the kite the Latin binomial name of Falco mississippiensis:[2] Falco means "falcon", while mississippiensis means from the Mississippi River in the United States.[4] The current genus of Ictinia originated with Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot's 1816 Analyse d'une nouvelle Ornithologie Elémentaire.[5] The genus name derives from the Greek iktinos, for "kite".[4] Wilson also gave the Mississippi kite its English-language common name. He had first observed the species in the Mississippi Territory, while the bird's long pointed wings and forked tail suggested that it was a type of kite.[2] It is currently classified in the subfamily Buteoninae, tribe Buteonini.[6]
Adults are gray with darker gray on their tail feathers and outer wings and lighter gray on their heads and inner wings. Kites of all ages have red eyes and red to yellow legs.[7] Males and females look alike, but the males are slightly paler on the head and neck. Young kites have banded tails and streaked bodies.[8] The bird is 12 to 15 inches (30–37 cm) beak to tail and has a wingspan averaging 3 feet (91 cm). Weight is from 214 to 388 grams (7.6–13.7 oz). The call is a high-pitched squeak, sounding similar to the noise made by a squeaky toy.
The summer breeding territory of the Mississippi kite is in the central and southern United States; the southern Great Plains is considered a stronghold for the species.[9] Breeding territory has expanded in recent years and Mississippi kites have been regularly recorded in the southern New England states; a pair has successfully raised young as far north as Newmarket, New Hampshire.[10] Another pair was observed breeding in Ohio in 2007.[11] As well, the territory has expanded westwards due to shelterbelts being planted in grassland habitats.
This species migrate to southern subtropical South America in the winter, mostly to Argentina and Brazil. Migration normally occurs in groups of 20 to 30 birds.[9] However, there are exceptions; mixed flocks may occur in migration, being recorded with up to 10,000 birds in one instance at Fuerte Esperanza, Argentina.[11]
Mississippi kites are social birds, gathering in roosts in late summer. They do not maintain territories.[12]
The diet of the Mississippi kite consists mostly of insects which they capture in flight. They eat cicada, grasshoppers, and other crop-damaging insects, making them economically important. They have also been known to eat small vertebrates, including birds, amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals.[9] They will usually hunt from a low perch before chasing after prey, eating it in flight.[11] They will fly around cattle and horses to catch insects stirred up from the grass.[12]
Mississippi kites are monogamous, forming breeding pairs before or soon after arriving at breeding sites. Courtship displays are rare, however individuals have been seen guarding their mate from competitors.[7]
Mississippi kites usually lay two white eggs (rarely one or three) in twig nests that rest in a variety of deciduous trees, most commonly in elm, eastern cottonwood, hackberry, oak, and mesquite. Except in elm and cottonwood, most nests are fewer than 20 feet (6 m) above the ground,[9] and are usually near water.[13] Eggs are white to pale-bluish in color, and are usually about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) long. In the past 75 years, the species has undergone changes in nesting habitat from use of forest and savanna to include shelterbelts and is now a common nester in urban area in the western south-central states.[9]
Mississippi kites nest in colonies. Both parents incubate the eggs and care for the young.[9] They have one clutch a year, which takes 30 to 32 days to hatch. The young birds leave the nest another 30 to 34 days after hatching. Only about half of broods succeed. Clutches fall victim to storms and predators such as raccoons and great horned owls. Because there are fewer predators in urban areas, Mississippi kites produce more offspring in urban areas than rural. They have an average lifespan of 8 years.[9]
The species was in decline in the mid-1900s, but now has an increasing population and expanding range. While the Mississippi kite is not an endangered species,[1] it is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918,[14] which protects the birds, their eggs, and their nests (occupied or empty) from being moved or tampered with without the proper permits. This can make the bird a nuisance when it chooses to roost in populated urban spots such as golf courses or schools. The birds protect their nests by diving at perceived threats, including humans; however, this occurs in less than 20% of nests. Staying at least 50 yards from nests is the best way to avoid conflict with the birds. If this is not possible, wearing a hat or waving hands in the air should prevent the bird from making contact but will not prevent the diving behavior.[9] [11]
The Mississippi kite (Ictinia mississippiensis) is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Mississippi kites have narrow, pointed wings and are graceful in flight, often appearing to float in the air. It is common to see several circling in the same area.