Mississippi Kite Nesting?

After consulting numerous birders coming to view the “Rockford Mississippi Kites”, the original pair of birds now includes a THIRD Kite, this one a juvenile. Thus, the implications are this bird nested here in Rockford, right by a city park and grade school.

We think this was the kite’s nest


Mississippi Kite Range Map

Rockford is ~350 or more miles away from the normal range of this bird, so it is definitely a fascinating occurrence.

The birds have been around for most of the summer but did not break into the “main” birding community until this past week.

Mississippi Kite digiscoped

Another interesting little bit of information. Local expert birder, Barbara Williams, discovered that one of the kites caught and consumed a Chimney Swift. Not too many birds have the agility to catch swifts.

If we get a photo or if another birder gets one of the juvenile, we’ll post about it!