So how will you know if you have Mississippi Kites in your neighborhood? If you see a roughly crow-sized hawk with pointed wings and a narrow tail that flares slightly at the end, acrobatically catching dragonflies in mid-air, it may well be this species. Perhaps the kites will find homes here in western Massachusetts, maybe even near you. Now that their nests are known in Connecticut and New Hampshire, the gap between our neighboring states is just waiting to be filled in. Breeding-especially in the newer parts of the range such as New England-often takes place in trees in suburban or urban settings, including yards, golf courses and the sides of residential streets. As with other raptors, the Mississippi Kite has benefited from a sharp decline in shooting and probably from the banning of the insecticide DDT. (A bit southwest of Bradley International Airport, this site is only about an hour’s drive from Northampton.)įeeding on insects and small vertebrates, the bird has recovered much of the geographical range that it lost in the early to mid-20th century and has even expanded its breeding into new areas. At Great Pond, I sat on the edge of the pond and watched the kites deftly hunting insects over the surrounding woods. At one of the New Hampshire sites on a suburban street, I could see the kites as they moved in and out of the nest tree and perched on the bare branches of a tree across the street, providing me with stunning views of this exceptionally graceful bird of prey. I’ve had the good fortune to visit both of these breeding sites. These were assumed to be “overshoots” that had missed their migration targets, but last summer it turned out there’s much more to the story: Mississippi Kites were discovered breeding in New England, with at least two nests in Newmarket, N.H., and one near Great Pond State Forest in Simsbury, Conn. For many years, people watching hawk migrations saw occasional Mississippi Kites in Massachusetts and other northern states, far from the species’ normal range. The Mississippi Kite, as the name suggests, breeds primarily in the southeastern United States. Most kites live and breed south of us, but recently one species appears to be spreading northward. Their way of flying gave rise to the name of the child’s toy. Kites are a diverse group of lightweight, medium-sized hawks that includes carrion eaters, mousers, aerial insect catchers, and a few that feed primarily on snails. Internship/Volunteer: Children’s Programmingīy David Spector Gazette Contributing Writer.Our Commitment to DWS, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
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