Thursday, September 26, 2013

Swallow-tailed Kite Migration: 26 Sept 2013

09/26/13

A snapshot in a week of 6 migrating Swallow-tailed Kites

All six of our migrating Swallow-tailed Kites from Florida and South Carolina are now in Brazil. They are enjoying the benefits of an insect buffet through the Amazon and the Cerrado, Brazil’s vast, tropical savannah.



Palmetto, from the lowcountry of South Carolina, is slowly moving south through the state of Acre, 150 miles north of the Bolivian border.

Gulf Hammock, maneuvering along Bolivia’s northern border, is spending time now in the flood plain of the Rio Mamore.

Pace made his way southeast in the last week and is roving over agricultural lands near Rolim de Moura, Rondonia, Brazil.

Day had a very similar, almost parallel track to Pace. She continued on through Rolim de Moura, however, and is now 65 miles east of Pace. In the last week she has covered about 570 miles, approximately the distance from Miami, Florida, to Charleston, South Carolina.

Suwannee’s travels this week, of about 540 miles, carried her from the middle of the Brazilian Amazon to an area about 45 miles west of Ariquemes, Rondonia, Brazil.

MIA, ever faithful to his independent ways, is the southeastern outlier. He has been exploring the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil, looping from Lucas do Rio Verde in the north to Rosario Oeste in the south.