Swallow-tailed Kite

Fascinating facts about the Swallow-tailed Kite

• The swallow-tailed kite stands alone in its own genus, Elanoides, making it a singular raptor lineage. It was first described by Mark Catesby in 1731 and later given the binomial Falco forficatus by Linnaeus in 1758, before the genus Elanoides was created by Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1818. The Greek roots of the name mean "kite resembling," reflecting its distinctive shape. No other bird shares this genus, underscoring its taxonomic uniqueness.
• During spring migration the swallow-tailed kite journeys from Central and South America to its breeding grounds, a movement recorded by satellite-telemetry. Some individuals have been tracked over distances exceeding 10,000 mi (16,000 km), illustrating their capacity for ultra-long flights across the continents. Although only about 3 % of the global population breeds in the United States, these birds still traverse thousands of miles each season.
• Swallow-tailed kites build their nests high in wetland trees, often selecting sites as lofty as 100 ft (30 m) to gain a broad view of the surrounding forest. Loblolly pines are the preferred nesting trees, with bald cypress used when pines are unavailable, and the height of the tree is a key requirement alongside food supply. These elevated nests give the birds a panoramic perspective that aids in spotting prey and predators.
• Only about 3 % of the world's swallow-tailed kite population breeds in the United States, with the overwhelming majority nesting farther south. Most of these birds migrate each spring from Central and South America to the coastal wetlands where they breed, travelling thousands of miles. Historic US ranges once covered much of the South and Midwest, but habitat loss has cut the American population to roughly coastal regions, an 80 % decline overall.
• When a swallow-tailed kite needs to drink, it skims the water surface and scoops the liquid into its beak without landing. This behaviour is consistent with its feeding style, as the bird normally captures prey while remaining aloft. It therefore usually does not break flight during feeding, allowing it to stay airborne for extended periods while hunting insects, reptiles and small vertebrates.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Swallow-tailed Kite

As the sun rises over the vast, rolling landscapes of its native Americas, the Swallow-tailed Kite takes to the skies, its sleek, streamlined form slicing effortlessly through the air with a mesmerizing elegance. With its deeply forked tail streaming behind it like a silken banner, this majestic bird of prey dances on the thermal currents, its agile wings beating in a slow, hypnotic rhythm as it scans the ground below for the snakes, lizards, and insects that make up its prey. In its effortless, soaring flight, the Swallow-tailed Kite embodies the very essence of freedom and wild beauty, a true marvel of evolution.

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