Small banner

Mississippi Kite

Home

Bird Watching

Migration

Nest Boxes

Raptor Centers

Printer friendly page
Printer friendly page


Raptors

Scientific Classification

Bird Parts

Falconry

Owl Adoption

Conservation
Scientific name: Ictinia mississippiensis
Family name: Accipitridae

Are they endangered?  They are not endangered worldwide.  (IUCN Red list: Least concern)  

What are their past/present problems?  People are taking their land and building houses on it.  (Habitat loss)
What do they look like?  Mississippi Kites have a gray body and dark red eyes.  Their wings are dark gray, white, and brownish red.

How big are they?  Mississippi Kites are from 13 – 17 inches long. If their wings were fully spread out, they would be about three feet wide.

Mississippi Kite
How many eggs do they lay?  The female lays 1 to 3 white eggs once a year.  They hatch in about 30 days.

How long do the fledglings stay in the nest?  The nests are made out of sticks and are usually high up in trees.  The hatchling (baby bird) will stay in the nest for about a month.
When do they hunt?  They hunt during the daytime. (diurnal)
What do they eat?  Mississippi Kites like to eat big insects, bats, small mammals, MICE, and reptiles.
Where do they live?  They are found in Canada, the United States, Central America, and South America.
What kind of place do they like to live in?  They like to live by forests and the edges of bodies of water.  They also like farms, towns, and grasslands.
Interesting facts:
Mississippi Kites migrate.

Male and female will take turns sitting on the eggs to keep them warm.  Usually in raptors, the female bird sits on the eggs mostly.
Mississippi Kites like to use thermals to save energy while they are flying.
They will grab and eat prey while they are flying.

Works Cited:

Alderfer, Jonathan.  Complete Birds of North America.  Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic, 2006.

Alsop, Fred.  Birds of North America.  New York:  DK Publishing, 2001.

Ictinia mississippiensis.  8 Jan. 2008.  <http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/49328/all>.

Mississippi kite.  5 Oct. 2007.  <http://www.peregrinefund.org/Explore_Raptors/kites/misskite.html>.

Ramsey, Mike.  “Studies Find Columbia, S.C.-Area Tract Suitable for Development.”  The State.  9 Apr. 2001.

Our site is best viewed with: 1024x768 screen resolution, Acrobat Reader 7+,
Adobe Flash Player 9, and Windows Media Player.

 

Links

Trivia game

 

 
Citations Site Map Team About Mouse Mail Dictionary