Swallow-Tailed Kite

Appearance:

Length: 19.7-25.2 in
Weight: 13.1-21.2 oz
Wingspan: 48.0 in

Swallow-tailed Kites are large but slender and buoyant raptors. They have long, narrow, pointed wings, slim bodies, and a very long, deeply forked tail. The bill is small and sharply hooked. Swallow-tailed Kites are a sharp contrast of bright-white head and underparts and gleaming black wings, back, and tail. From below, the wing linings are white and the flight feathers are black.

Habitat:

Swallow-tailed Kites can be found in the southern part of the state from March to May when they breed. Look for them over swamps, marshes, and large rivers. Swallow-tailed Kites prefer to nest in tall deciduous trees on natural levees along major river floodplain systems, and in mature cypress-hardwood swamps within the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta.

Behavior:

Forage on the wing and have a diet consisting of insects, frogs, lizards, nestling birds, snakes, and small mammals. Adults generally eat large flying insects, but often feed their young small vertebrates.

Listed as HIGH CONSERVATION CONCERN in the state of Alabama