ARCI is using GPS-transmitters to track 11 Swallow-tailed Kites from breeding populations in Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana (the latter tagged by colleague Dr. Jennifer Coulson of Orleans Audubon Society). Most of these Kites are carrying cell-phone technologies that upload their location data when they are able to connect with a cell-phone tower. Since the kites pass through many remote areas, opportunities to upload their locations are spotty. The good thing is that they are storing all their location data indefinitely, so when they do connect, the information comes streaming in.
Swallow-tailed Kite. photo by Jim Gray
Pritchard, a male from Palmetto Bluff, South Carolina, last uploaded data as he passed through Florida on 27 August. There is a very good chance that he has made the crossing to the Yucatán Peninsula by now. Three kites had already reached the Yucatan when they last reported in August/early September: Sanibel Botanical, Bailey’s Homestead, and Peter’s Creek.
Carver’s Bay and Big Branch from South Carolina last reported from northern Honduras in early September. We assume the travel routes of all these tagged kites are beyond range of cell-phone towers and that we will eventually be receiving the accumulated location data.
GPS-tracked kites for which we have more recent location data are the four birds that are about to cross the Andes Mountains in Colombia. This is another dangerous part of the kite’s migration because of the high altitude, low temperatures, and low prey availability of this vast mountain range. From south to north in Colombia, these four kites are Sawgrass, Ponchitolawa, Jeaga #1 and PBC-ERM male.
Leading the pack of 11 kites is Suwannee, already in Rondônia, Brazil, and nearing his former wintering range in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
This work would not be possible without our dedicated supporters and collaborators. For our current 11 GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites we thank:
American Bird Conservancy (ABC)
bioGraphic
CROW – Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife, Inc.
Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge
Forest Investment Associates (FIA)
Friends of Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge
Friends of Palmetto Bluff Conservancy
Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges
International Paper (IP)
Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge
National Audubon Society
Orleans Audubon Society
Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management
Palm Beach Zoo and Conservation Society
Palmetto Bluff Conservancy
Resource Management Service (RMS)
Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society
Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation SCCF
St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park
St. Petersburg Audubon Society
The Avian Reconditioning Center for Birds of Prey
White Oak Forest Management
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