Avian Research and Conservation Institute (ARCI) is continuing our Swallow-tailed Kite (and Short-tailed Hawk) nest monitoring program “Eyes on Kites”.
ARCI has monitored nesting Swallow-tailed Kites since 1988. Archiving specific nest locations and their fates is truly valuable for this charismatic species, which has experienced large variations in population size and distribution over the century. We can determine the protective status and potential threats to each nest site or neighborhood of nests and advise land owners, whether private, public, or commercial, on how best to protect them. We also can identify areas where productivity is particularly high or low and, over time, relate this to factors such as site fidelity, longevity, abandonment, predation and disturbance risks, and habitat integrity through long-term monitoring.
Swallow-tailed Kites are arriving back to Florida each day and now is the time to find nesting activity. We hope you will consider monitoring Swallow-tailed Kite nests with us. Your observations are helpful for our monitoring program and nest-site database. You are our eyes in the field!
Information on finding and safely monitoring kite nests can be found here:
Signing up for the 2024 nest season is easy and free and you can use your log in from previous years or join here:
Once you sign up you have access to all of the Submission Forms, note that we have a separate research project on Sanibel Island with its own nest check form:
Subsequent nest checks are logged here:
We are ready for an exciting and hopefully productive Kite nesting season!
With gratitude,
Gina Kent, Ken Meyer, and the ARCI team
Lake Lindsey, Hernando County. 11:15 am. 3/26/24.
7 circling above the lake, drifting northward.
Distance from me made them visually aprx. 3/8″ size but the flash of white head & wing shoulders 😁
…unmistakable.