Occurs primarily close to brownwater rivers, and most numerous along the upper half of the Roanoke River and portions of the lower Cape Fear River. Summer resident, breeding increasing in recent decades. In the past few years, post-breeding numbers of both Mississippi and Swallow-tailed kites have appeared in the mountains and western Piedmont most of these are immature birds. Presumably, suitable prey items are not nearly as common over blackwater rivers such as the Northeast Cape Fear, Black, Waccamaw, and Lumber in fact, the species isn't known to nest along a few major blackwater rivers in the Coastal Plain. Mississippi Kites show a strong preference for brownwater river floodplains - Roanoke, Tar, Neuse, Cape Fear, and even the Pee Dee along the Fall Line birds are normally seen chasing insects over forests and floodplain fields not far from the rivers. In fact, birds nest in towns such as Roanoke Rapids, Goldsboro, Rocky Mount, and Laurinburg! The first nesting in the state came only in the 1970's surprisingly, the only known Piedmont nesting sites (so far) are well inland at Greensboro and Charlotte, and also at Raleigh. Fortunately, the kites feed on large insects such as cicadas and dragonflies high over wetland forests, and they need only a few tall trees, even in town parks, for a nesting site. Exactly why it has spread is not obvious though wetlands such as beaver ponds have been increasing, mature forested swamps and bottomlands have declined owing to repeated logging. Mississippi Kites are a major success story in North Carolina and elsewhere in their breeding range, which has been expanding northward not only along the East Coast but also into the Great Plains and in the Southwest. This gives kites a more buoyant looking flight.Mississippi Kite - Ictinia mississippiensis They have a similar wingspan and body length, but weigh 1/3 that of falcons.
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