Swallow-tailed Kite range map (via the Cornell Lab of Ornithology).
The Swallow-tailed Kite is one of our favorite birds to see when we visit Florida.
On July 7, Mark was excited and surprised to see one flying about five miles north of Goose Pond Sanctuary, over Highway 22 east of Poynette.
He safely pulled off the busy highway and quickly took a few photos with his cell phone before the bird disappeared. We looked up Swallow-tailed Kite records for Wisconsin and this was the first record for Columbia County!
The kite is very recognizable. In the latter half of July, at least 60 bird watchers submitted their Swallow-tailed Kite observations to eBird. Lisa Burr provided an excellent description in her report:
“Very graceful bird. No vocalization. Observed entirely in flight: gliding, soaring. Twisting its tail ever so slightly to change direction. About the wingspan of Red-tailed Hawk but much slimmer bird. Unmistakable with a long forked tail & high contrast black & white plumage. All black above but for all-white head. All white body below including underwing coverts. Rest of wing and undertail, jet black.”
Madison Audubon board member Dexter Patterson wrote in his:
“Striking bird of prey known for its distinctive forked tail and graceful aerial acrobatics. Its unique appearance and elegant flight made it a fascinating bird to observe even if just for a few seconds as it swooped down in between the trees and two houses before I lost it. Lifer bird.”
A map of Swallow-tailed Kite sightings by year and county (graphic by Mark and Sue Foote-Martin).
In Wisconsin Birdlife (published in 1991), Sam Robbins includes a 1901 Swallow-tailed Kite nest report in Oconto County and observations in five more counties between 1906 and 1982.
Swallow-tailed Kite observations have increased in Wisconsin since Sam’s book was published. They have been seen in Marquette County (1992), in Green Lake County (1997, 2018), Dane County (1999), in Sheboygan County (2009, 2018), in Door County (2016), in Ozaukee County (2019), in Adams, Juneau, and Lincoln Counties (2020), and this year, in Columbia and Oconto Counties (2023).
Swallow-tailed Kites usually nest in seven states from Texas to South Carolina and winter in South America. They are common nesting birds in Florida. According to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology:
Swallow-tailed Kites have lost much of their historic U.S. range—they used to occur along the Mississippi River as far as Minnesota—but populations increased nearly 6% per year between 1966 and 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight estimates their global population at 260,000 and rates them 12 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, indicating a species of low conservation concern.”
The Columbia County location is on King Road west from Highway 22 (see the Wisconsin eBird species map here for location details). One easy way to locate the Columbia County kite is to search for it on weekend afternoons and look for birders’ cars parked along King Road.
2023 is turning out to be the year of the kites in Wisconsin. This is the first year that the Mississippi, Swallow-tailed, and White-tailed Kites can all be observed here. There are only five county records for White-tailed Kites and this year the bird is in Door County near Potawatomi State Park. There are 39 records of Mississippi Kites across 19 counties (a July 26 observation added Vilas County to the list). In July, there were two Mississippi Kites in Janesville in the general location where a pair nested in 2019 (the first nesting report in the state). Some birders probably added three kite species to their Wisconsin life list this month!
Thanks to everyone that provided eBird reports. It also is helpful to subscribe to the Wisconsin Rare Bird Alert email.
Written by Mark Martin and Sue Foote-Martin, Goose Pond Sanctuary resident managers
Cover image by Arlene Koziol. A Swallow-tailed Kite with white plumage, black tail and wingtips, and a distinctly forked tail flies through a blue sky in Florida c. 2019.
