Winter Range Update on 16 GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites

We have followed the Swallow-tailed Kites to familiar winter destinations within Brazil. From north to south, Apopka and Hobolochitto are in Rondônia, Brazil, about 700 km north of four kites in Mato Grosso, Brazil: Suwannee, PBC-ERM Male, Wilson, and Sarasota. This is the riverine rich area north of the Pantanal wetland.

850 km south, seven of our kites have gathered on the east side of Mato Grosso do Sul: Lacombe, Sanibel, Prichard, JAX. Sawgrass. Babcock, and Ponchitolawa.

We are sorry to report that we have lost signal from Bayou Vincent in Bolivia, a Swallow-tailed Kite tagged by Jennifer Coulson in Louisiana. We are in contact with some local biologists to see about accessing her last location to get some answers.

Our “missing” Swallow-tailed Kites OK and PBC-ERM Female have been out of cell service in Colombia since August. We still hope they are just fine and will connect with a cell network soon and upload their travel information.

Most Kites on Wintering Grounds

Most of our 16 GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites have reached their wintering destinations. Woo hoo!

Pritchard has joined Ponchitolawa, Lacombe, and Sanibel in Mato Grosso do Sul in an area where we’ve seen many GPS-tracked Kites winter in past years.

PBC-ERM Male, Suwanee, and JAX are quite close to each other north of the Pantanal (a very large tropical wetland) in Mato Grosso, Brazil, while Bayou Vincent is still in Bolivia.

Wilson caught up with Apopka and Hobolochitto in Rondônia, Brazil, and Sarasota is still making his way through Amazonas, Brazil.

We need some good vibes for our “missing” kites that are out of cell service, last checking in from Colombia one to two months ago: Babcock, OK, Sawgrass, and PBC-ERM Female.

Quick Kite Update

Not pictured are our “missing” Swallow-tailed Kites Babcock, OK, Sawgrass, and PBC-ERM Female that have been out of cell service for one or two months now. We hope they are just fine and will connect with a cell network soon and upload their travel information!

October is when most Swallow-tailed Kites will settle into their winter ranges for the next few months. We are seeing that with Bayou Vincent in Bolivia and three kites in Mato Grosso do Sul: Ponchitolawa, Lacombe, and Sanibel.

The rest of the bunch is slowly moving through Brazil. PBC-ERM Male, JAX, and Suwannee are in Mato Grosso. Apopka and Hobolochitto are in Rondônia, while Sarasota and Wilson are following in Acre, Brazil.

Safe travels Swallow-tailed Kites!

Update from the Flyway

News from the flyway on our 16 GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites on their southbound migration:

Two kites are south of the Pantanal in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil: Sanibel and Ponchitolawa. These kites have flown over 5,000 miles from their U.S breeding range! In Mato Grosso, Brazil, Suwannee, Lacombe, and PBC-ERM Male are making their way over flood plains and agricultural lands.

Bayou Vincent remains in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, while Pritchard has joined JAX and Apopka in Rondônia, Brazil.

We received new data from Sarasota in Amazonas, Brazil, near to Hobolochitto’s location. Wilson moves south along the Colombia/Peru border.

We need some good vibes for our “missing” kites that are out of cell service, last checking in from Colombia one to two months ago: Babcock, OK, Sawgrass, and PBC-ERM Female.

Safe travels Swallow-tailed Kites!

Kites Continue Farther into South America

Good news from our 16 GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites – a new check-in from PBC-ERM Male in Rondônia, Brazil! There he joins Sanibel, Apopka, and JAX above the agricultural fields. Just a bit farther south, Lacombe, Suwannee, and Ponchitolawa are moving through Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Bayou Vincent is holding down Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and Hobolochitto is 900 miles northwest of her in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.

Farther north in Colombia are five birds that we haven’t heard from in a while due to the lack of cell coverage needed to upload their location data: Sarasota, Pritchard, and Sawgrass are on the east of the Andes Mountains, and OK and Babcock are on the west side.  

Wilson, our last GPS-tracked kite to leave the U.S., continues to make his way down the west side of the Andes Mountains. We are still waiting to get an upload from PBC-ERM Female who last reported from the Panama/Colombia border.

Safe travels Swallow-tailed Kites!

13 of 16 Kites in South America

Almost all our 16 GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites are in South America now.

Bayou Vincent is the outlier in Bolivia and seems to be settling into a wintering spot. Lacombe is across the border into the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Just north of him in the State of Rondônia is JAX, Apopka, Sanibel, and Suwanee.  

We’re relieved to get data from Sanibel, Suwannee, and Apopka who were "offline" for a while as they traveled through the Amazon. We are still holding out for our two earliest migrants Babcock and OK, who have been out of touch since August. This has happened before and we'll continue to cross our fingers.

Ponchitolawa is nearing the northern Bolivia border, some 750 miles away from his nearest neighbor Hobolochitto.

Five kites are straddling the southern Andes Mountains in Colombia: Sarasota, Sawgrass, and Pritchard to the East and OK and Babcock to the West.

Wilson is making progress through Central America and is almost caught up to where PBC-ERM Male and Female last reported in Panama.

Safe travels Swallow-tailed Kites!

Almost all the Kites are in South America

Suwannee and JAX recently came back into cell coverage and have joined Lacombe in the State of Rondonia, Brazil. These birds from three completely different breeding areas are now within 80 miles of one another!

In Honduras, Wilson trails 850 to 2,650 miles behind the other 15 GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites. PBC-ERM Male and Female are just about to enter Colombia, where the majority of the kites appear to be.

Sawgrass, Sarasota, and Ponchitolawa have safely crossed the Andes Mountains and are making their way through southern Colombia. Sanibel, Pritchard, and Hobolochitto are west of the Andes while Babcock, OK, and Apopka are within this high mountain range.

Bayou Vincent has set the pace for our farthest south Swallow-tailed Kite. She is settling into Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Recall that 12 of the kites need to have cell coverage to upload their tracking data and will be storing their data until they come into service. Birds like Babcock and OK haven't uploaded locations for a month, but we assume they are in poor cell coverage.

Safe travels Swallow-tailed Kites!

All Kites Cross the Gulf

All 16 GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites made it safely across the Gulf of Mexico! Wilson was our latest kite to make landfall on the Yucatan, on 4 September.

Pritchard made some headway into northern Panama behind Hobolochitto, PBC-ERM Male, Ponchitolawa, and PBC-ERM Female.

Many of the kites appear to still be in Colombia, where their data uploaded most recently. Birds like Babcock and OK haven't uploaded locations for a month, but we assume they continue to make headway, just in areas with poor cell coverage.

Sanibel and Suwannee are in northern Colombia, while Apopka is near the Andes Mountain crossing point where OK and Babcock were last detected. Sawgrass, JAX, and Sarasota have crossed the Andes and are well on their way through the Amazon.

Lacombe is in the Brazilian state of Amazonas and Bayou Vincent is 900 miles farther south in the Bolivian state of Santa Cruz.

Safe travels, Swallow-tailed Kites!

Last kite leaves South Carolina

Wilson, the GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kite from South Carolina, left the US before Hurricane Dorian arrived. As the storm approached the eastern coast of Florida, winds were, and still are, very favorable for southbound migration. We are thinking of our Bahama neighbors and the wildlife of those beautiful islands as the destruction of this powerful storm is revealed. This is a good reminder of how natural selection has so finely adapted native plants and animals to such forces, yet what we do to the planet increasingly pushes them beyond the limits of their resilience.

All 16 of our tracked Kites have now left the U.S. Pritchard exited via Florida just a few days ahead of Wilson and is now in Belize. Ahead of him is Hobolochitto in Nicaragua, with Apopka and PBC-ERM Male in Costa Rica. Five kites are cruising through Panama this week: Ponchitolawa, Sawgrass, Sanibel, Sarasota, and PBC-ERM Female. Their next challenge will be to cross the high, barren, Andes Mountains in Colombia, which Suwannee is just about to do.

Babcock and OK crossed the Andes weeks apart, just north of the city of Pasto, Colombia (the traditional passage for the US kites), while JAX crossed the Andes a little farther north. Lacombe is in Peru and Bayou Vincent is apparently leading the flock, over 750 miles farther south in northern Bolivia.

Just a reminder that 12 of our tracked kites are fitted with GSM transmitters and four with satellite transmitters. The GSM-fitted kites need to come within reception range of cell phone towers to upload their data. So, while our birds cross remote areas of the Andes Mountains and the Amazon, we often have long “silent” periods until they once again pass within cell range and upload their stored location data.

First Kites reach South America

Bayou Vincent has reached the Amazon region of Peru. OK has fallen in line behind Bayou after crossing the Andes Mountains of Colombia. Babcock appears to be in the same place as the last update; however, the lack of cell coverage in this region means we have not gotten data from her for a few weeks. We will see where she truly is when her transmitter pings in again.

Five kites in a row in Panama: PBC-ERM Female, Lacombe, JAX, Sanibel, and Suwannee. Sarasota has made his way to Nicaragua. PBC-ERM male and Sawgrass seem to be making a long stopover in Quintana Roo, Mexico, and were joined by Apopka on the 22nd of August.

Holobochitto has made progress along the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Ponchitolawa headed east once he got to Cuba, only to correct his course and head west over open ocean. We hope he makes it to Belize or Honduras safely. Pritchard passed quickly through Georgia and Florida and left the Florida Keys behind on 26 August.

Our lone remaining Swallow-tailed Kite, Wilson, is enjoying the Savannah River National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. Any day he too will start south.

New Articles on Swallow-tailed Kites

Today, 27 August 2019, bioGraphic published a comprehensive article on Swallow-tailed Kite Conservation Biology. We are grateful to Steven Bedard (writer) and Mac Stone Photography for including our research. See the National Audubon’s version of this same story.

Swallow-tailed Kite migration and fires in Brazil

Many fans of Swallow-tailed Kites and followers of our tacking studies have expressed concerns about the threats posed to southbound migrant kites by the thousands of deliberately set fires raging unchecked in the Brazilian Amazon. The fires are on the kite’s migration route, which means individual kites are exposed to the fires' impacts for a limited in time. However, based on our research, we know the kites do linger a bit in the Basin, before completing their journey to their winter ranges south of the affected region. Most likely this lingering is to take advantage of foraging opportunities, although we do not have on-the-ground confirmation of this.

Swallow-tailed Kites frequently forage over landscape fires, though the long-term effects of the fires on their forage quality is not known. These fires intentionally set in rainforests that would not normally burn represent another human-caused ecological crisis, which in this case will contribute to the much larger planetary catastrophe of climate change. It is fortunate that ARCI has 23 years of satellite and cell-phone telemetry data for Swallow-tailed Kites so we will be able to compare this year’s tracking data from 16 tagged adults with past years. As we follow the news about the Amazon fires, we will keep you informed of kite movements in our frequent migration blogs posted here. 

16 GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites Begin Their 2019 Migration to South America

Many of the 16 kites ARCI is currently tracking have already left the US on a 5,000-mile trip to wintering destinations in South America. In last week’s blog, we described the importance of tracking Swallow-tailed Kites with GPS-equipped tracking devices, and introduced you to the 5 adults tagged during the 2019 nesting season.

Now, we would like you to meet the rest of the fleet and track their migration with us. Following is a list of the 16 birds and their supporters, without whom this study would not be possible.

From earliest to most recently tagged:

Sawgrass is a female tagged in 2016 at the Sawgrass Lake Park in Pinellas Co., Florida, with financial support from the St. Petersburg Audubon Society (SPAS). A big thanks to their Raptors on the Move program.

Babcock is a female tagged in 2017 on the Babcock Ranch Wildlife Management Area in Charlotte, Co., Florida. We thank conservation photographer, Carlton Ward Jr., for helping us gain permission and access for this capture.

Sarasota, a male, was captured and tagged in 2017 on the T. Mabry Carlton, Jr. Memorial Reserve in Sarasota Co., Florida. Funding was granted from Sarasota Audubon Society, Peace River Audubon Society, Venice Area Audubon Society, and the Friends of the Carlton Reserve.

Apopka, a male, is a rehabilitated kite we tagged in 2017 and released at the Lake Apopka Restoration Area in Orange Co., Florida, with the assistance of the Avian Reconditioning Center and additional care from the Audubon Bird of Prey Center. Organizational funding (with special thanks) included challenge and matching donations from: The City of Apopka (Mayor Joe Kilsheimer); Halifax Audubon Society (David Hartgrove); Oklawaha Audubon (Stacy Kelly); Seminole County Audubon (Lewis Gray, Margaret Terwilliger, and Sarah Donlan); Tampa Bay Raptor Rescue (Barbara Walker); Clearwater Audubon Society; and West Volusia Audubon Society. For their personal contributions, we thank Stephen Kintner, Deborah Green, Janet Marks, Eileen Tramontana, Sandie Selman, Rebecca Grimm, and Alyssa Karnitz.

Wilson, tagged in 2017, is the second of two males tagged on Palmetto Bluff Conservancy land in Bluffton Co., South Carolina, with funding from the Friends of the Palmetto Bluff Conservancy.

Pritchard, tagged in 2018, is the other male kite we are tracking from Palmetto Bluff Conservancy land in Bluffton Co., South Carolina.  He was tagged in 2018 with funding from the Friends of the Palmetto Bluff Conservancy.

OK (Okaloacoochee) is a female kite tagged in 2018 on the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in Collier Co., Florida.  Funding was provided by the Caloosa Bird Club and the Friends of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.

JAX is a female tagged in 2018 in northeastern Jacksonville, Duval Co., Florida. This bird’s telemetry costs were covered by a generous contribution from the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.

Suwannee is a male from the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge in Dixie Co., Florida. We are grateful to the Friends of the Lower Suwannee NWR and the National Audubon Society for providing funding. This kite will be featured in a joint bioGraphic and National Audubon online article later this month, with photos from conservation photographer, Mac Stone.

Sanibel is a male from Sanibel Island in Lee Co., Florida. The Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society is graciously covering Sanibel’s telemetry expenses.

PBC-ERM Male and PBC-ERM Female were both tagged in Palm Beach Co., Florida on Environmental Resource Management county property, with funding from the Palm Beach Zoo and Conservation Society.

Four Swallow-tailed Kites were tagged by our colleague, Dr. Jennifer Coulson, with Orleans Audubon Society funds:

Lacombe is a male tagged in 2015 near Lacombe, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. He has been tracked the longest of the 16 tagged kites.

Bayou Vincent is a female from St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, that was tagged in 2018.

Hobolochitto Creek is a male tagged in 2018 near its namesake in Pearl River Co., Mississippi.

Ponchitolawa is a male tagged in 2019 near its namesake creek in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana.

Where are they now?

As of 19 August 2019, 11 of our tracked Swallow-tailed Kites had already left the U.S.  Their current positions are listed below, beginning with the southernmost bird.

Babcock was the first to leave Florida, in mid-July. She has crossed the Andes Mountains and is entering the Amazon Basin of Colombia. Bayou Vincent, OK, and PBC-ERM Female are in Panama and will soon cross into Colombia.

Farther north, Sanibel is hugging the Nicaraguan Coast and Lacombe is trailing behind in Guatemala.

There is a stopover party in the Yucatan Peninsula where JAX, Suwannee, Sarasota, PBC-ERM Male, and Sawgrass are lingering to rest and replenish after crossing the Gulf of Mexico.

Hobolochitto Creek and Ponchitolawa had begun migrating southward across the Gulf of Mexico only to be forced by headwinds back to the U.S. coastlines of Texas and Florida, respectively.

Apopka has been moving among a few communal roost sites in central Florida. Wilson and Pritchard remain near their respective summer ranges in South Carolina.

We can’t wait to see where these birds go.  Thanks for following along with us!

Five Kites Join the Class of 2019

Left to right: Grace Campbell (ARCI, volunteer), Ken Meyer (ARCI),
Larry Woodward (Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge,
and Jeff Gleason (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

ARCI has some exciting news to share! With the generosity of many wonderful partners, both old and new, we were able to deploy GPS-equipped cell-phone transmitters on four breeding adult Swallow-tailed Kites, and our colleague Dr. Jennifer Coulson, President of Orleans Audubon, tagged an additional kite in Louisiana!

This brings our fleet of remotely-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites to 16 across the southeastern United States. We are grateful to all the organizations and individuals who make it possible to continue our long-term research to understand the ecology and conservation needs of Swallow-tailed Kites.

Each tagged kite will produce an enormous amount of highly-accurate, time-stratified, and unbiased location data that can be used to address many of the most important questions about the species’ conservation biology, including:

• nesting locations
• home-range and core activity areas
• pre-migration communal roost sites
• timing of seasonal movements
• migration corridors and habitats
• site fidelity
• exposure to potential natural and anthropogenic threats (e.g., severe weather, climate change, drought, habitat loss and degradation, contaminants)

By using the kites’ data to answer the above questions, we can directly shape science-based management, conservation, and policy for this spectacular species. These data will enable local land managers to identify important nesting, roosting, and foraging locations for Swallow-tailed Kites in their respective management areas. There’s an added benefit as well – managing for kites creates an “umbrella effect” where the plants and animals using the same habitats as the kites flourish too.

Let’s introduce you to our Class of 2019:

Suwannee

ARCI's Ken Meyer and Gina Kent remove
Suwannee from the mist-net. Photo by Nan Soistman.

Suwannee, a male, comes from a fantastic landscape for nesting Swallow-tailed Kites – the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge in Dixie County, Florida. We are grateful to the Friends of the Lower Suwannee NWR and the National Audubon Society for provided all the funding needed to track Suwannee. We were joined by Nan Soistman from Sunrise Wildlife Rehabilitation and Einstein, their educational Great Horned Owl. Suwannee’s tracking story will be featured in upcoming publications in the international online conservation magazines National Audubon and bioGraphic (California Academy of Sciences).

Sanibel

ARCI's Ken Meyer and Gina Kent fit Sanibel with a GPS-equipped cell phone (GSM) transmitter.
Photo by Janet and Aaron Kirk.

Tracking a kite nesting on an island is a first for us! Quick action, cooperation among old friends from several outstanding organizations, and a lot of love-of-kites made the tagging of this kite possible. Sanibel was captured on Sanibel Island in Lee County, Florida, thanks to the skilled assistance, logistical support, and land access by the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF). We were joined by Bre Frankel and Great Horned Owl, Mina, of the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife, Inc. (CROW)

The San-Cap Audubon Society is graciously funding Sanibel’s transmitter and tracking data in memory of their late president and dear friend of Sanibel conservation and ARCI, Mr. Jim Griffith.

Palm Beach County Environmental Resource Management (PBC-ERM) Female

Palm Beach County Environmental Resource Management (PBC-ERM) Male

Melissa Tolbert (PBC-ERM) prepares to release PCB-ERM Male.
Photo by Mike Rogers.

These birds are the first representatives from Palm Beach County, Florida! A big thanks to Margo McKnight and the Palm Beach Zoo for generously funding these two kites. We also thank Melissa Tolbert and David Witmer of the Palm Beach County Environmental Resource Management team for nest finding, monitoring, permission and logistical support. Nicole Jones with the Avian Reconditioning Center (ARC) and Gordon, ARC’s Great Horned Owl, were there for our first capture. For our second capture, we were joined by Callie Coxon and Hino the owl from the Palm Beach Zoo.

Further thanks to Carol and Scott McCorkle and Bill Hammer of Avian Recondition Center (ARC) for additional Swallow-tailed Kite trapping attempts at the Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area, another area we would like to target for kite-tracking.

Ponchitolawa

Tom Coulson holds Ponchitolawa. 

This adult male Swallow-tailed Kite was captured near Covington, Louisiana, by our colleague and dear friend Jennifer Coulson, Orleans Audubon Society, and her husband, Tom (pictured). Dr. Coulson shares Ponchitolawa’s data with us (along with Bayou Vincent, Lacombe, and Hobolichitto Creek) as part of a long standing (over 20 years!) and cherished collaboration between she and ARCI.

The Coulson’s rigorous research has contributed greatly to everyone’s understanding of kite conservation biology and management needs, including continuous monitoring of threats and population changes.

PCB-ERM Female flies away after release.

Wishing all the Swallow-tailed Kites a safe migration full of plentiful food sources!