I gather that only 1% of the world's dragonfly species undertake
migrations, but apparently some large and tasty ones pass heading south
in the US each fall in large numbers, and some birds specialize in
eating them. Some of them are large enough to be too much to handle for
the average bird, but raptors like kites prey on them. Because large
numbers of these dragonflies--and it would be great to hear from
dragonfly-watchers about this--must pass through Ohio this time of year,
it seems that a few of the bird species adept at catching them, like
kites, might move north to intercept them. This still seems to have been
the case in recent years, rare as it is.
Formerly--and we are talking about 150+ years ago--the
swallow-tailed kite had a range into southern Canada, where they no
doubt ate dragonflies that no doubt also had a northerly range.
I read in an 1854 work on hunting in Wisconsin that these kites were "at
one time quite numerous on our prairies, and quite annoying to us in
grouse shooting.” Coues in 1874 had extensive remarks on its presence in
North Dakota at the time. Ohio's Wheaton reported a kite shot near
Pataskala in my area on 8/22/1878. which was first thought to be a bald
eagle from P.T. Barnum's show and discarded, then eventually rescued,
though the specimen has since apparently been lost.
It's probably unwise to celebrate that these charming birds are
returning to our latitude in larger numbers. We just have more observers
who report birds than we used to. Dragonflies, and their predators,
continue to diminish. A few lucky Ohioans may get to see one during the
warm months, but if you want to get a taste of their former abundance,
there are some Florida spots that still routinely provide hundreds of
them at a time at this time of year...what a show!
Bill Whan
Cols
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