Citizen Science for Swallow-tailed Kites

Wow, spring really snuck up on us this year! We’ve already been receiving a number of reports of Swallow-tailed kites returning to the skies of the south east and it won’t be long before many of these birds start collecting nesting material to begin building nests in time for breeding season. Keep your eyes open for birds carrying nesting material and be sure to report it on our website.

As for the recap of last year's kite sightings, it was another stellar year with over 2000 sightings throughout the southeastern US. The most northern sighting of 2021 was north east of Charlotte in China Grove, NC and the most western sighting was in Brazoria, TX, just south of Galveston.The data that you all are sharing helps us to document areas where Swallow-tailed kite sightings have been rare but now are becoming more regular. This is great news for the kites and with more public awareness and habit protection these birds may have the potential to be returned to parts of their historic range.

Thank you all for your continued support and hard work inputting your kite sightings! If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email us at [email protected] or
DM here on facebook.

Swallow-tailed Kite season has officially begun, and some of you have already reported seeing your first kites of 2020! Thank you to the citizens of Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina for submitting sightings so far this year. We have already surpassed 130 sightings, and it isn’t even April!

Please continue to report your sightings throughout the year to our Citizen Science Database (stki.thecenterforbirdsofprey.org), and share your images or videos with us via this page. Since most of us can’t do a lot of exploring right now due to COVID-19, grab those cameras and allow everyone to get great looks at these birds!

Photo credit: Caroline Sankey