Swallow Tailed Kite

Scoutboat

My favorite raptor.
Jim

nole76

What is he eating?

JWT

one of the coolest birds on the planet. they don't even land to eat!  we didn't get many here last year.......

Scoutboat

nole76 said:

What is he eating?

A young dove that was picked out of the nest.  They eat on the fly!

Scoutboat

JWT said:

one of the coolest birds on the planet. they don't even land to eat!  we didn't get many here last year.......

I see them fairly fairly often in S.W. Florida at this time of year.

Flash

Scoutboat said:

nole76 said:

What is he eating?

A young dove that was picked out of the nest.  They eat on the fly!

Yes they do. This one was probably taking on a grasshopper of sorts above the peanut fields.

stc1993

I don't know about FL but in GA the game wardens want you to report it if you spot one.  I've never seen one in S GA.

Scoutboat

stc1993 said:

I don't know about FL but in GA the game wardens want you to report it if you spot one.  I've never seen one in S GA.

I live in S.W. Florida on Cape Haze, I've never seen one in more populated areas north of here.
Beautiful bird!  

Flash

Just had two over the house this morning. Just north of Cedar Key.

JWT

we had good numbers 2 years ago, more than i have ever seen concentrated........... got to watch a lot of their feeding activity & learned a lot about them. only seen a couple this year & no photo ops. such cool birds- i miss them.

this one just snatched a frog out of the tree top (from 2016)

Scoutboat

JWT said:

we had good numbers 2 years ago, more than i have ever seen concentrated........... got to watch a lot of their feeding activity & learned a lot about them. only seen a couple this year & no photo ops. such cool birds- i miss them.

this one just snatched a frog out of the tree top (from 2016)

Scoutboat

Nice photo, JWT!!!!!
What's your location???
Jim

Slough

Cool pics

Slough

stc1993 said:

I don't know about FL but in GA the game wardens want you to report it if you spot one.  I've never seen one in S GA.

I haven't either. See a few every year on the river cruise. Usually between Bristol and Apalachicola.

JWT

i am in Everglades NP for these. seeing very few of these again this year. much has changed after the storm... i have found some other cool stuff tho...

Scoutboat

Everglades City??
Nice little town!
Been to the "Ore House" restaurant.  

Lurchy

See quite a few in the Jupiter/ Hobe Sound area

conchydong

That is a great raptor. Haven't seen one in a few years.
30-40 years ago, I used to see Everglades Kites also. Due to their limited diet of mostly Snails, I doubt if there are many left. As the POTUS woulld say "sad".

Black Gnat

See one or two around my house in Gainesville, most recently 5/9. Have seen one at Suwannee Town.

Scoutboat

The last one that i've seen was early this week in East Englewood.
There's a large Charlotte County reserve not far from there.

mplspug

I see them here in spring late spring quite often.  Saw one the other day.  They are a cool raptor!

stc1993

I've read that for every bird you see in FL our grandparents saw 10.

mplspug

That just seems like a weird thing to say.  Yeah, I get it, the bird population is down 90%.  It just sounds funny like if I see a bird sitting on my fence, my grand parents would have seen 10 sitting there.

Scoutboat

mplspug said:

That just seems like a weird thing to say.  Yeah, I get it, the bird population is down 90%.  It just sounds funny like if I see a bird sitting on my fence, my grand parents would have seen 10 sitting there.

Seems that way.
Some raptors (like the Bald Eagle) are making a comeback.
Others (like the Swallow Tail Kite) have been in decline because of loss of habitat.
Blame the developers for that.
Jim

mplspug

It just sounds like a funny thing to say.  Like I imagine instead of a pair of birds tending a nest, I picture my grandparents seeing 20 birds tending a nest 

swampwalker

I'm seeing a lot more Swallowtail Kites in Polk & Hillsborough than in years past. Not sure if pop is expanding or what. Must be a count somewhere that sheds some light on population numbers. I hear Everglades Kites are actually being seen a lot more on the Kissimmee River south of Orlando expanding range. One species I'm seeing more of than when I was a kid is the Sandhill Cranes. BTW - great pics of the buntings!

JWT

they are very scarce here lately....... only a couple scattered sightings.... 

Scoutboat

From what i read about them, they spend most of their time in Central and S. America, coming north to breed.
Loss of habitat seems to be the limiting factor in the U.S.

Scoutboat

swampwalker said:

I'm seeing a lot more Swallowtail Kites in Polk & Hillsborough than in years past. Not sure if pop is expanding or what. Must be a count somewhere that sheds some light on population numbers. I hear Everglades Kites are actually being seen a lot more on the Kissimmee River south of Orlando expanding range. One species I'm seeing more of than when I was a kid is the Sandhill Cranes. BTW - great pics of the buntings!

Swampy,
We see many resident Sandhill Cranes in S.W. Florida.
Many migrate from the upper mid west to Southern states.
There's even a hunting season for them in some states.
Dang!!!!
Jim

jcbcpa

Saw one cruising the Wakula River back in April. They are for sure beautiful birds. Love to watch them.

Scoutboat

jcbcpa said:

Saw one cruising the Wakula River back in April. They are for sure beautiful birds. Love to watch them.