In mid-July,
an adult Swallow-tailed Kite was admitted to Audubon’s Center for Birds of Prey
with trauma injuries after being hit by a vehicle. With some quiet rest, this kite improved
quickly and was transported to the Avian Reconditioning Center (ARC) in Apopka. Here the Kite joined two other Swallow-tailed
Kites in a 100-ft flight cage to exercise and prepare for release.
Carol
McCorkle, ARC’s Director, connected with us at ARCI to say this healthy
Swallow-tailed Kite would be released the following weekend. Carol wondered if
we might want to put a cell-phone/GPS transmitter on the kite prior to release. Although this was an exciting offer, and we
had just received a few of these amazing devices from the manufacturer, we told
Carol we had not yet raised enough funds to pay for transmitters and to deploy
them. We try to keep a few transmitters
on hand for when land managers or conservation groups have an interest in
seeing a bird tagged and the funds to cover purchase of the transmitter and the
costs for capturing, tagging, and tracking a bird.
Paula
Ashby of ARC sprang into fund raising action! Within 48 hours, she was able to raise
the necessary interest and financial support from the surrounding community to
make the GPS-tagging possible. Thank you so much, Paula! For their confidence and generosity, ARCI and
ARC are grateful to:
The City of Apopka - Mayor Joe
Kilsheimer
Halifax Audubon - David Hartgrove
Oklawaha Audubon - Stacy Kelly
Seminole County Audubon - Lewis
Gray, Margaret Terwilliger, Sarah Donlan
Tampa Bay Raptor Rescue - Barbara
Walker
Clearwater Audubon - matching the challenge
issued by Tampa Bay Raptor Rescue
West Volusia Audubon - Stephen Kintner
Deborah Green from Orange Audubon
(personal donation)
Janet Marks from West Volusia
Audubon (personal donation)
Eileen Tramontana, Director of Trout
Lake Nature Center (personal donation)
Sandie Selman from West Volusia
Audubon (personal donation)
Disney Volunteers from ARC - $100
each - Rebecca Grimm and Alyssa Karnitz
You all know that this work can be
very difficult and often demoralizing. No doubt you also can imagine how
gratifying it is to see birds reconditioned and released by ARC knowing that
they will contribute to ARCI’s long term studies of movement ecology and
conservation biology. We hope you also know how gratifying it is to have your
confidence and generosity in pursuing this mission we all share. Thank you all
very much!
We had a
great crowd of supporters at the release of this now famous Swallow-tailed Kite
and the other two kites. We name
Swallow-tailed Kites after a location they are associated with, and since we
were releasing the Kite at the Lake Apopka North Shore Restoration
Area it was fitting to name it “Apopka”. We took a feather sample from Apopka
and will send to a lab to learn whether it is a male or female, so stay tuned
for that information (place names honor the locations that are so important to
birds, but they also are conveniently gender-neutral!)
The release went very well! All three reconditioned birds took
to the sky and drifted east out of sight beyond the trees. The Lake Apopka North Shore Restoration Area
is famous for Swallow-tailed Kites at this time of year, providing ample insect
prey for these birds to prepare for their exceptionally long migration. Hundreds of kites at a time can be seen swooping
and diving on prey that they catch and eat in the air.
As expected, Apopka is taking the time now to gather fat and
strength before it migrates across the Gulf of Mexico on its way to south-central
South America for our winter. Already, Apopka has visited some of the most
common roost and foraging sites for Swallow-tailed Kites. After traveling over 200 miles, this
Swallow-tailed Kite is now in a remote portion of Brevard County. We wish Apopka
the best of foraging and resting opportunities as it prepares for its long
journey.
Our hearty thanks to all who made this opportunity possible,
and to all who enjoy these amazing stories and spread the word about the
wonders of bird migration.
