The Everglades Kite is a member of the hawk family. They are medium sized hawks. The male has a bluish - black or slate gray plumage. Both females and adolescent Everglades Kites have streaks of brown on their lightly colored underparts. The Everglades Kite's wingspan is about 45 inches, and its body is from 16-18 inches long. It has an extremely hooked bill with a touch of red on the tip. Females and males have red eyes, but the young have brown eyes. The Everglades Kite has long legs. The male has red legs, and the females have yellow legs. The male weighs 10 -13 ounces, and the female weighs 13-14 ounces. They are a lot like the marsh hawk, but do not waver and tilt in their flight like the marsh hawk does.

The Everglades Kite lives in open freshwater marshes that have a fair amount of apple snails. They favor areas with open shallow water like sloughs or flats.

Another name for the the Everglades Kite is the Snail Kite. The Snail Kite lives mainly in the Everglades and South Florida; that is why they are named the Everglades Kite. Other names for the Everglades Kite is the Snail Kite, Black Hawk, Black Kite, Hookbill Hawk, Snail Hawk, and Sociable Marsh Hawk.

Everglades Kites only eat apple snails if they live where apple snails are, but if there are no apple snails, they can eat snails of the same genus. As of 1987, there had only been five recorded sightings of the Everglades Kites eating non-snail food. They catch their food with their legs, then use their very hooked bill to remove it from its shell, and then swallow it whole.

The Everglades Kite is at the mercy of its environment. If there is one good year when the water level rises, they can increase in population quite quickly. When there is a bad year when the water level drops, they lose the environment that both they And their food, theapple snail,need to survive.

When these kites mate, they fly high and repeatedly dive in short dips with thier wings folded. Eggs are usually produced from February to July and hatch about 30 days later. The eggs are a dull white cream with brown blotches. After the eggs hatch, the babies usually leave the nest in about 26-28 days. The Snail kite usually nests in a loose colony. Their nests are about 13 inches in diameter, and are usually located in a low tree or shrub 3-10 feet above the water. Both male and female incubate the eggs and rear the young. They lay two to three eggs in a litter.

In 1964 and 1965, there were very few Everglades Kites around because people made canals that drained water from our marshes, destroying the habitat for the Snail Kites and the snails that they eat. A lot of Everglades Kites died of starvation. Also some Kites died from being shot by accident by duck hunters in blinds. In 1964 there were only 10 of them.

In natural conditions the population of wading birds, like the Wood stork, and the Snail Kite would seesaw, or change back and forth. This happens because the Everglades Kite does best in constant waters, and wading birds do best when the water level is low, and all the fish are trapped in small ponds and easy to catch. In1987, 326 Snail Kites were counted in Florida. In 1988 there were 500 that were counted. The Everglades Kite is making a comeback all right.

Go see a drawing of a kite that I did

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