Swallow-tailed Kite Migration Update: 19 December 2013

The eight Swallow-tailed Kites we are tracking by satellite left the U.S. by late August and settled into their Brazilian and Bolivian winter ranges by mid-October. As the temperature drops here in North America, it is increasing in South America where conditions are heavy with heat and precipitation.

Ranges of 8 satellite-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites from 01 October 2013 to 11 December 2013. 

Pearl MS is in the state of Rhondonia Brazil, 70km south of Alta Floresta d’Oeste. From the aerial imagery, it looks like a matrix of forest and cattle pasture.

Slidell spent 6 weeks near Juara, Mato Grosso, then headed south 390km on 30 November where she now is southeast of Nova Mutum.

Gulf Hammock has been traveling over a stretch 100km west of Concepcion, Bolivia. She had a very similar winter range in 2012.

Palmetto Bluff also traveled through Bolivia where she stayed last year, but this year she took her time, traveling through the country over a 20 day period, and finally settling in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

Suwannee has stayed west of Tres Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul since 12 October covering an area that stretches 70km north to south over mixed pasture, agriculture and forest patches along small rivers.

Incredibly, MIA, Pace, Day and Palmetto Bluff all made their way to the same roost in Mato Grasso do Sul, Brazil. These birds, tagged at different times and places (Miami, Jacksonville, Daytona and Palmetto Bluff, respectively) converged on this area independently of each other over a period of 28 days. This is half our study population. Can you imagine how many thousands of Swallow-tailed Kites there may be in this one area? We also know from our many years of field studies on the Brazilian winter range that the Swallow-tailed Kites from the U.S. are flocking at this time with thousands of breeding and wintering Plumbeus Kites plus a large portion of the wintering Mississippi Kites from the U.S. This is a strong reminder of how important it is to protect these winter foraging and roosting habitats on the winter range and to ensure that there are compatible farming and logging practices.

A comparison of migration routes

Migration routes used by eastern versus western subpopulations

Swallow-tailed Kites that nest in the eastern portion of the species’ U.S. range (South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida) cross the Gulf of Mexico during their spring and fall migrations, but their routes differ depending on the season. Migrating southward at the end of the nesting season, they fly from southwestern Florida to the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico either directly or with brief stops on Cuba. When they return in the spring, they depart from the Yucatan Peninsula and make landfall somewhere along the northern Gulf coast, from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle.

During their spring or fall migrations, Swallow-tailed Kites from the western subpopulation (Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana) may fly across the Gulf of Mexico (See Slidell) or travel entirely overland (See Pearl MS), following the Gulf coastline through Louisiana, Texas, and Mexico.

Our 8 satellite-tagged Swallow-tailed Kites, now settled into wintering locations in Southern Brazil and Bolivia, will start moving north in late January and early February. Watch to see whether Pearl MS and Slidell navigate across or around the Gulf and where the other birds come ashore when returning to their established nesting areas in February and March of 2014.

On their southbound migration, the eastern subpopulation of Swallow-tailed Kites fly from southwestern Florida to the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula. The western subpopulation migrates via on overland route through Mexico or by crossing the Gulf. 

Swallow-tailed Kite Migration: 30 October 2013

Migration routes differ between eastern and western subpopulations

We are currently tracking eight Swallow-tailed Kites from nest sites in the Southeast. We have been documenting the southbound migration of six of these birds that were tagged in Florida and South Carolina. The other two birds, tagged in Mississippi and Louisiana, are part of a collaborative study between ARCI and Jennifer Coulson of the Orleans Audubon Society. Dr. Coulson is studying the geographic range, population size, and limiting factors for Swallow-tailed Kites in Mississippi and Louisiana. Together, we are learning about the differences in migration routes used by eastern versus western subpopulations, which you can see portrayed on today’s tracking map. Today, we introduce Slidell from Mississippi and Pearl MS from Louisiana. In our next post we will detail the differences in their migration routes as compared to the 6 birds of the eastern population. We thank Dr. Coulson for joining the 2013 Kite Migration Blog.

Slidell (female) - tagged in 2011 near Slidell in St. Tammany Parrish, Louisiana

Slidell’s journey north this past spring was “epic,” Jennifer says. On 10 March 2012 she left the Yucatan, heading north across the Gulf of Mexico for her breeding grounds in Louisiana. On March 11th, when she was about halfway across the Gulf, she encountered persistent headwinds related to an unusually large high-pressure system. After a night with virtually no progress, Slidell did an about face and used the favorable tailwind to return to Mexico, arriving south of Veracruz on March 12th after a remarkable 42 hours over the water.

Rather than resuming her northbound migration when she reached shore, Slidell spent over 20 days in Mexico, probably recuperating from the struggle she faced over the water. In early April, she began heading north again. However, when she arrived to her breeding area on April 11th, her previous year’s nest was already occupied. Rather than nesting elsewhere, Slidell made long excursions through the Gulf Coastal states during the breeding season, perhaps in search of her past mate or a new one. On July 30th, she began flying south from Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin, crossed the Gulf of Mexico, and arrived in Campeche, Mexico, on August 1st.

She spent almost 20 days along the northwestern border of Guatemala at a refueling site. Since then she moved steadily through Central and South America where she is now in the State of Mato Grosso north of Juara. She is the most northeastern of all of our 8 GPS-tracked kites.

Pearl MS (male) - tagged in 2011 on the Mississippi side of the Pearl River northwest of Picayune

After his 2013 nesting attempt failed, he remained on his home range for most of the remaining breeding season, unlike the wanderer, Slidell. By 8 August 2013 he had moved to a communal night roost on the Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge, and by mid August he also was using known roost sites on the nearby Old River Wildlife Management Area in Pearl River County.

Pearl MS had the latest departure of our tagged migrants beginning his southbound migration from the Pearl River Basin on August 16th. He also has had the most unique migration route following an overland route completely around the Gulf of Mexico and staying well inland, unlike most tagged kites that usually navigate closer to the coast on both their northbound and southbound migrations through Mexico. Once in the state of Tamaulipas he joined the coast southward. Ten days later he was in southern Nicaragua where his track merged with the others. Now Pearl MS is in the state of Rondonia near Nova Brasilandia d’Oeste.

Update on Palmetto, Pace, Gulf Hammock, Suwannee, Day and MIA

All kites have crept southwest since our last post. From the end of September to the middle of October Swallow-tailed Kites arrive to their wintering grounds where they’ll stay through January.

Palmetto and Gulf Hammock have diverged into Bolivia and are 190 miles apart in the State of Santa Cruz.

Day is in the middle of the pack. She is in the State of Mato Grosso near Sapezal.

MIA has taken some time to wander north and south between Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul but it seems he has found foraging areas close to two of our other migrants Pace and Suwannee.

Pace, Suwannee, and MIA are on ranchlands east of Campo Grande in Mato Grosso do Sul.

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.

Swallow-tailed Kite Migration: 06 Sept 2013

09/06/13

We're back from the field! And happy that all the kites look to be doing well and moving strong since our last full update on Aug 21st. 

Palmetto (Female) - Tagged in Palmetto Bluff, South Carolina.
Palmetto stayed in Mexico for 8 days and finally resumed her southward migration on August 18th. She moved steadily on, foraging and resting along the way, for 11 days and approximately 1,300 miles, until she made it to the Colombian border in Panama’s remote Darien National Park.

Pace (Male) - Tagged south of Jacksonville, Florida.
It took Pace 9 days to travel through Central America, starting in Belize, to the border of Colombia. He kept a steady pace through the country and has crossed the Andes just north of San Juan de Pasto, a town where there is a narrow pass through which the birds are able to cross the rugged Andes range.

Gulf Hammock (Female) - Tagged in Levy County, Florida.
Gulf Hammock was our last Florida-tagged Swallow-tailed Kite to leave the country. Once she moved, she did so quickly and without a stopover on the Yucatan Peninsula like most of the other tagged birds did and many Swallow-tailed Kites are known to do. This may be due to her prolonged pre-migratory staging, where the extra time to fatten up gave her the energy to keep moving south. From the tracking data, we see that she likes to fly near coastlines, which is a great navigation aide. Gulf Hammock is now nearing the Colombian border with Panama.

"Suwannee" – Female. Tagged at the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge.
Suwannee continued steadily through Central America and into Colombia. She safely crossed the Andes and is now over forested lands of the Caqueta region of Colombia, the boundary area between the Andes and the Amazon.

Day (Female) - Tagged in Daytona, Florida.
After a week in Quintana Roo, Mexico, Day trekked another 11 days crossing most of Central America. In the last 8 days she slowly moved through the Choco of Colombia, the most undeveloped state in Colombia and also one of the world’s great biodiversity hotpots. She is now near the town of Cali and about to cross the Andes.

MIA (Male) - Tagged in south Miami, Florida.
MIA gets the award for being the speed champion migrant. He made it through the Andes on August 15th, shaved over the northeasternmost corner of Peru on August 21st, and continues to sail through the Brazilian Amazon. He has traveled roughly 3,500 miles in 5 weeks.

Swallow-tailed Kite Migration: 21 Aug 2013

08/21/2013

 

An overview of all kites.

Palmetto remains on stopover in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, the largest protected area in the Mexican Caribbean.

After Pace made landfall on Cuba, he stayed for two days then continued his journey south at 10:00 a.m. on Aug 11th. For 5 hours he flew over the water until he reached the Yucatán Peninsula just 10 miles south of Cancún. Pace’s last recorded location shows he is now 50 miles north of the border of Belize.

Gulf Hammock is making her way through the Yucatán Peninsula.

After a week long stopover, Suwannee is on the move again. Heading south, she made her way slowly through Quintana Roo, hugged the eastern coast of Belize, and entered Guatemala via a 4hr over-water shortcut over the Amatique Bay on Aug 13th. She pressed onward through Honduras and is now just across the border into Nicaragua.

Day is also on the move again after spending 6 days in the southern part of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It looks like she and Suwannee may nearly have been travel partners for a few days as they departed Quintana Roo and moved south through Belize—they have very similar tracks and the same general locations on the same days from the 9th through the 14th of August. Their paths diverged in Honduras where Day has remained at the Sierra de Agalta National Park.

MIA is in Colombia and has approached the Andes Mountains. This is another treacherous part of the migration route. He is following their western edge and the last GPS fix shows he is holding over in the Tatamá National Park.

Swallow-tailed Kite Migration: 20 Aug 2013

08/20/2013

 

Gulf Hammock joins the journey south!

Gulf Hammock is our last Florida-tagged Swallow-tailed Kite to leave the US. She was the only kite to fly north (from Florida to Georgia) to stage for migration. She left her comfy corner of the Ocmulgee River in Georgia, where she spent a month and five days, and headed south where she stayed the night in the Steinhatchee Conservation Area in Lafayette County, Florida. The next night she roosted in the Green Swamp where Pace and Palmetto also stayed over. She spent her last sleeping hours in the U.S. in the Everglades just south of Chokoloskee, Florida. Setting up for departure, she followed the coastline and as the day’s light grew dimmer, she jumped off over Florida Bay from Cape Sable on August 13th. She spent most of the night over the Straits of Florida and made it to Cuba at around 4am. She didn’t stop, however, but continued to head out from the western tip of the Island on a 5 hour over-water trek to Cancun. Gulf Hammock has stopped in Quintana Roo, 30 miles NW of Tulum. Suwannee, Day, Palmetto and Pace are also in Quintana Roo.