Observations on the Mississippi Kite in Southwestern Kansas   By: Henry S. Fitch (1909-2009)

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS

MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Volume 12, No. 11, pp. 503 519

October 25, 1963

Observations on the Mississippi Kite in Southwestern Kansas

BY

HENRY S. FITCH

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE 1963

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Henry S. Fitch, Theodore H. Eaton, Jr.

Volume 12, No. 11, pp. 503 519 Published October 25, 1963

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas

PRINTED BY JEAN M. NEIBARGER, STATE PRINTER TOPEKA. KANSAS 1963 [Union Logo] 29 7863

Observations on the Mississippi Kite in Southwestern Kansas

BY

HENRY S. FITCH

The Mississippi kite ( Ictinia mississippiensis ) is one of the common raptors of Kansas, occurring regularly and abundantly in summer in that part of the state south of the Arkansas River. In 1961, in an attempt to find out more about the ecology of the species in Kansas, I made several trips to parts of the state where kites could be found in numbers, notably to Meade County State Park in the southwestern part of the state, 7½ miles south and five miles west of Meade. Little has been written regarding the species in this extreme northwestern part of its breeding range, where it thrives under ecological conditions much different from those that prevail elsewhere in its range. Also, the social behavior and food habits have been given relatively little attention.

In my field study I was helped by my son, John H. Fitch, who climbed to many kite nests and spent many hours observing in the field. My daughter, Alice V. Fitch, likewise aided me by keeping nests under surveillance. Dr. Claude W. Hibbard of the University of Michigan and Mr. Harry Smith, superintendent of Meade State Park, also kindly provided much useful information concerning the history of the colony of Mississippi kites at the Park. Mr. William N. Berg analyzed pellets, and Dr. George W. Byers kindly checked many of the identifications, and provided generic and specific determinations for some of the insects.

In general, the range, habits and ecology of the Mississippi kite are already well known through the publications of Audubon (1840), Chapman (1891), Bendire (1892), Ganier (1902), Wayne (1910), Nice (1931), Bent (1936), Sutton (1939) and Eisenmann (1963). The breeding range is the southeastern United States, chiefly within the Austroriparian Life zone, but extending northwest through much of Oklahoma and into southern Kansas. The species is highly migratory. Wintering Mississippi kites are known from Argentina and Paraguay (Eisenmann, op. cit. :74), and most of the population probably winters in southern South America, but records outside the breeding range are few.

The Mississippi kite is perhaps one of the most social raptors. It is highly gregarious, not only in its migrations but in breeding colonies. All breeding pairs seen were closely associated with other individuals, with no territorial hostility; signs of intraspecific intolerance are rare, even where the kites are abundant. In the nesting season many of both sexes perch together in the same tree, and groups tend to keep together as they forage.