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Re: more post-breeding dispersal




Hey Steve and all -

While I don't think anybody's done any studies, I think Mississippi Kites in 
populous areas are pretty common, especially any place with large trees near a 
body of water.  Since they also nest in the Plains, I am not sure that even the 
water is necessary, although here in the South, water is required for one of 
their favorite foods, dragonflies.  I first became acquainted with the species 
while living in an older subdivision (meaning lower housing densities and big 
trees) on the banks of the Congaree River in West Columbia.  A pair nested in 
the neighborhood somewhere, although I never could quite figure out where.  I 
figured it was somewhere along a small creek that run through some of the 
vacant land back off the major highway nearby.  That is where I learned 
their "wolf whistle" call, watched them "kite" (hanging becalmed in the vortex 
of small thermals) and learned that they are indeed predators.  They hunted ny 
feeders with regularity.  Unlike the "prey species" reaction to most predators, 
which involves much screeching of alarm calls and a great flutter of wings, the 
small birds would disappear as quietly as smoke when the Mississippi Kite would 
appear overhead.  I watched two kites argue over possession of a (dead) small 
brown bird one afternoon, so they were successful at least occasionally.

As for post-breeding dispersal, I'd love to see some discussion on what 
motivates some individuals to disperse.  All of the records for Mississippi 
Kite that I know of from Fairfield county are post-breeding dispersal (between 
mid-June and late August).  The records of White Ibis in Fairfield are even 
more narrowly delimited - early July.  

Donna Slyce Bailey
Winnsboro, SC