Hi All, Late yesterday morning (31 August), 3 members of the family of Duane Otto, a birder who is known for reports from Myers Point, watched a SWALLOW-TAILED KITE fly north over their yard, which is about a mile due north of Myers Point and a bit inland from and considerably higher than the Cayuga Lake. They did not have time to get binoculars, but managed several diagnostic photos of this large, boldly black-and-white, fork-tailed bird.
Duane also quickly got the word out on a rare bird alert, but despite the efforts of several birders that afternoon it has not yet been re-found... yet. It may still be in the Lansing area, or elsewhere in Tompkins County, or it may have continued north on yesterday’s winds. Be on the lookout for it flying at or above treetop level. In the tropics Swallow-tailed Kites are known for grabbing snakes and lizards from treetops, but this far north I suspect they subsist on dragonflies and other large insects grabbed in mid-air. They like lowland wooded areas. They are lightweight, agile, and very buoyant flyers. According to the Sibley guide, a Swallow-tailed Kite weighs the same as a Northern Harrier, which is a bit less than an American Crow. But its length, including that long deeply forked tail, and the span of its pointed wings are about the same as a Red-tailed Hawk or Common Raven which weighs more than twice as much. Swallow-tailed Kites migrate north to breed in Florida and nearby coastal states, but they are a known rarity in most eastern states. Occasionally they are seen among the spring raptor migration along Lake Ontario. In recent years Swallow-tailed Kites have shown up in several nearby counties of Upstate New York in late summer, after their breeding season, but I believe this is a new species for the Cayuga Lake Basin. Note: This is different than the smaller White-tailed Kite which joined the Basin list this past June - see my article in the Cayuga Bird Club newsletter which just went out. - - Dave Nutter -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") Cayugabirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/cayugabirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) aba_DOT_org/birding-news/ Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
