I’ve seen the swallow tailed kite do that drop down trick 🧐 it’s incredible. I thought I was the only person obsessed with this bird ever since I first saw it.
Great video, thanks for the information. Interesting that Nature has tradeoffs with this bird, excels at flight but lacks a strong beak. And then it's kinda odd this Kite goes after so many land based prey, having chad air ability you would expect it to take advantage of this skill going after other birds. Maybe at one time in history it did focus on birds and it's simply coping now with our declining biodiversity.
Kites mostly feed on aerial insects and usually focus on land-based prey when they are raising young. Kites specialize at being able to fly slowly without staling out. Flying slowly allows them to thoroughly and methodically search for cryptic prey like arboreal tree frogs that might be in a shrub or tree canopy.
@@orleansaudubonsociety2410 Thank you for replying. I live in the panhandle of Florida and don't often see the Swallow Tail Kite, which is probably why it's special when they show up. Love this bird.
Watched a wonderful presentation until the slide showing the Argos transmitter attached to the back of a Kite. You’ll never convince me that it doesn’t impair the bird in one way or another. Who’s assuming it’s not an added burden for the bird? Guess who.
I appreciate your concern. Almost all field research carries at least some potential risk. I can assure you that the transmitter and harness attachment we are using meets all raptor research standards and has been approved by the USGS Bird Banding Lab. We have not had any adverse effects yet, and we have been using this particular transmitter design since 2011. In any study one has to weigh potential risks against benefits. In this case the knowledge we are gaining and the kite conservation measures we are implementing that are informed by the tracking study far outweigh any potential risk.
I’ve seen the swallow tailed kite do that drop down trick 🧐 it’s incredible. I thought I was the only person obsessed with this bird ever since I first saw it.
Thank you, Jennifer ... Enjoyable and so much good information.
Thanks for your work and your video. Enjoyed it very much.
Just saw a Swallow-Tailed Kite in St. Charles Parish today.
Great video, thanks for the information. Interesting that Nature has tradeoffs with this bird, excels at flight but lacks a strong beak. And then it's kinda odd this Kite goes after so many land based prey, having chad air ability you would expect it to take advantage of this skill going after other birds. Maybe at one time in history it did focus on birds and it's simply coping now with our declining biodiversity.
Kites mostly feed on aerial insects and usually focus on land-based prey when they are raising young. Kites specialize at being able to fly slowly without staling out. Flying slowly allows them to thoroughly and methodically search for cryptic prey like arboreal tree frogs that might be in a shrub or tree canopy.
@@orleansaudubonsociety2410 Thank you for replying. I live in the panhandle of Florida and don't often see the Swallow Tail Kite, which is probably why it's special when they show up. Love this bird.
Watched a wonderful presentation until the slide showing the Argos transmitter attached to the back of a Kite. You’ll never convince me that it doesn’t impair the bird in one way or another. Who’s assuming it’s not an added burden for the bird? Guess who.
I appreciate your concern. Almost all field research carries at least some potential risk. I can assure you that the transmitter and harness attachment we are using meets all raptor research standards and has been approved by the USGS Bird Banding Lab. We have not had any adverse effects yet, and we have been using this particular transmitter design since 2011. In any study one has to weigh potential risks against benefits. In this case the knowledge we are gaining and the kite conservation measures we are implementing that are informed by the tracking study far outweigh any potential risk.