WatchList Species Account for Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus)

Qualifies for the list as a Declining Yellow List Species

Photo: © Jeff Higgott

Formerly breeding in the U.S. from the Gulf Coast and in the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys as far north as Minnesota, the Swallow-tailed Kite now breeds from coastal South Carolina south to Florida and west to Louisiana and east Texas, where it ranges over freshwater and brackish marshes and lowland and swamp forests. The birds are gregarious and several pairs may nest close to each other. For nesting it needs tall, accessible trees (most often pines) for nests and nearby open areas that provide prey. The birds may roost communally at night, and some premigration roosts may draw hundreds of kites. Flying insects are the main food items though nesting birds feed the young a variety of small vertebrates. Winter range includes roughly the northern half of South America where it favors humid forests and avoids arid areas and the higher elevations. The kite also breeds in southern Mexico and in Central and South America.

In 1990 its estimated U.S. population was 800 to 1,150 pairs, with probably 60-65% in Florida. At present the population is thought to be stable. The main threat to the bird is loss and degradation of habitat for nesting, foragin and roosting, largely due to agricultural and urban development, particularly in Florida, though habitat is also threatened by logging and flood control, resulting in altered hydrology in coastal lowlands. An analysis in the early 1990s in Florida indicated there were about 6,400 km2 of suitable habitat, of which only 1,984 km2 were on lands managed for conservation; this is sufficient area for only about 200 pairs. Conservation measures include avoiding cutting of pines around active nests and protection of large premigration communal roosts which are used year after year.