Swallow Tailed Kites

The following is my final presentation for the Audubon Field Academy.  The class is the first of its kind East of the Mississippi. It was developed by John Nelson and Martin Co. Audubon.  The 8 modules consisted of 64 hours of classroom, field work and 2 independent projects.  My interest in birding grew in 2012 and 2013 when large numbers of Swallow Tailed Kites frequented my neighborhood in Eastern Martin Co.  Those 2 years allowed me to observe these masters of flight on a daily basis from April through July.  During this time nightly roosting was in 2-3 pine trees on and within 300 foot of my home.  In one pine tree alone as many as 28 Kites were roosting at the peak of the feeding season leading up to their long annual migration.  These 2 years we were blessed with abundant Winter rainfall providing plenty of food resources in the Spring, before the rainy season which starts about June 1st.  

Special Thanks goes out the Avian Research and Conservation Institute for their invaluable help with this presentation.  Please consider a donation to their very important work.  

 http://arcinst.org/

 

Roosting and Feeding Site

Thanks for looking.

Copyright Pat Faehnle 2017.  All rights reserved.