White-tailed Kites: white tail, whitish chest, and black spots on wings.Streaked, brownish head with pale “eye brows”.Underparts chestnut color, heavily streaked with brown.The female has a darker head and neck and has paler undertail coverts (feathers).Flight is soaring and gliding on flat wings, sometimes with tail fanned.Blackish flight feathers visible from below.Pale gray head with dark patches around the red eyes.Plumage mostly grey with darker grey back and upper wing feathers.Medium-sized hawk, with long, narrow, pointed wings.In 2004, Rich et al estimated the entire global breeding population to exist of about 190,000 individuals (data based mainly on Breeding Bird Surveys). Groups of 10 – 50 individuals are often seen roosting in large stands of eucalyptus trees (Di Giacomo 2005). Also increasingly found in wooded suburbs. Habitatīreeding / Summer: Usually seen individually or in pairs, hunting in open areas (prairies, woodlands, savannahs and agricultural lands) or roosting on tall trees adjacent to open country. In 2004, at least 9,700 were reported during fall migration near Corpus Christi, Texas (Smith 2004). In 2006, a flock consisting of an estimated 10,000 individuals was reported on northward bound migration at Fuerte Esperanza, Argentina. They usually migrate in loose flocks, often in mixed flocks with other migrant raptor species, such as Swainson’s Hawks, Plumbeous Kites, Broad-winged Hawks and Turkey Vultures. March / April – May: Birds migrate north through coastal Mexico to their breeding territories in the United States.Įnd of August – September / October: Breeding birds travel south to their wintering ranges. Non-breeding birds also occur as far north as southern Texas. They migrate south to winter in central South America, specifically northern Argentina and southern Paraguay. In recent years, they have been regularly recorded as far north as the Great Lakes region and southern New England (New Hampshire).
They nest in the northwestern third of Texas and north central Texas isolated nesting populations are found in eastern Texas. They breed in southern and central North America – from Arizona east to southeastern Colorado, southern Kansas, and southern Missouri south to Florida. Distribution / Habitat Summer / Breeding Range
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