![]() About 25 days after they hatch, the chicks start climbing out of the nest onto nearby limbs. As the chicks grow, the adults leave the nest unattended for longer periods of time, and both spend more time hunting to feed their young. The adults trade duties several times each day. While one parent broods the chicks, the other hunts and brings food to the nest. For the first 10 days, the hatchlings are tended closely by both sexes. Both parents share incubation responsibilities over the next 30 days. They have already paired up by the time they arrive, and commence establishing territory and nest building. The locally- nesting kites appear in April. The kites spend the winter in South America, and return to the US in the spring. Their stick nests are difficult to find, as they are usually hidden in dense foliage high in the canopy of large trees. ![]() They have readily adapted to human settlement, and often build nests in wooded neighborhoods, golf courses and parks. ![]() Mississippi kites nest along riparian corridors in the southeastern United States, including a healthy population in southern Brazoria County. They are snatching prey, such as dragonflies, beetles and cicadas, from the air with their talons – often eating them on the wing.Īlthough insects are the main staple in their diet, they also hunt small vertebrates such as frogs, lizards, snakes, rodents, bats and small birds, taking them from trees or the ground. Then you may see them make a sudden dive. They have the ability to glide in circles for long periods of time. The adult has a dark gray back, wings and tail, red eyes, a pale gray belly and a striking white head. These are Mississippi Kites, raptors that specializes in hunting large insects. You may have noticed sleek, crow-sized birds soaring effortlessly above the treetops in your neighborhood this summer.
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