PH. 5 pm. 5 min. Worthington, mature tall deciduous trees, near Olen tangy River 40.0887 -83.0101 Becoming annual in many parts of mid west and northeast. I wouldn't be surprised if this kite is promoted to Regular status within a few years. For example, in the mid Atlantic as recently as mid 1990 it was considered a vagrant, few people "lucky" enough to see on in VA or MD. In a span of less than 10 years, it went from vagrant to UNC breeding resident along the upper Potomac, northern VA and suburbs of DC! (also IL, IO, MO, NE, CO). It is nesting in New England. Mississippi Kite is a lot easier to identify than it is to document. Once you’ve seen them skimming dragonflies in flight or spinning on a dime kiting with little to no effort, the combination areal supremacy, flight style and overall shape to be unique and diagnostic. But how do you describe all this in words adequately enough to preclude other raptors from consideration? Frankly, I’m not entirely sure I can. I've never been good at this. You have to see one! This bird was foraging for large aerial insects catching and eating them on the wing. Buoyant, wings flat or very slightly bowed, foraging on the wing just over canopy twisting and flaring tail, maneuvering with grace and ease as it foraged, no flapping. An exceptional flier. A smallish raptor (straight long wings and tail make it look bigger), slim body, small head. Long wings, long narrow based tail often fanned. Mississippi Kite’s is distinctive, not like a falcon at all. Very long wings, straight trialling edge to tip, with unique hand, and a narrow based fanned hard cornered tail are compelling. The wing/hand shape results partly from the relatively short length of P10 and 9; this oft-mentioned field mark can be misleading by a inadequate quick look, esp. going away, and flying accipiter, buteo, or harrier can take a similar look. The key is if you can stay with it, it will always reveal it to be a MK eventually. The Mississippi Kite passing overhead or maneuvering to capture a large insect, the under side of the flight feathers were seen to be blackish on the primaries paler on inner primaries and outer secondaries becoming dark or blackish again on the inner secondaries, the coverts paler. This indicates most likely a bird completing its first year. The tail, often mobile as it forages, wide at tip and sharp corners leading to straight outer edges and very narrow at base; creating a strong fan that is often twisted and turned. The tail looked black not banded but were likely present -- a 1st year bird. Adult MIKI have pale heads and distinct white wing panel on upper wing. Ad females will not show white heads nor any youngster (juveniles (i.e., first-year birds). Juveniles have a tail with narrow white bands, very similar to the tail pattern of a Merlin. And older juveniles can have this seemingly obvious pattern much reduced. Most consider Kiting Raptors to just means the same thing as hovering, a term used for bull dozers like Red-tailed. But the mastery of areal dynamics of Mississippi Kite is not at all like any buteo or American Kestrel. I remember hearing very experience observers believing they were observing a Peregrine until its graceful manners in snatching dragonflies out of the air left them dumb struck. Actually, they are a much lighter and smaller, with wingspan slightly greater than Merlin. The shape of the hand due to short p10, slender narrow wings, and long square tail (fanned, narrow at base) are unique. (Swainson’s Hawk although not to be confused, to me, has a similar shape to the hand due to shorter p10) It has like molted earlier, as it was not in active molt, This is a species with few diagnostic plumage features, but a Mississippi Kite is in wing and tail nothing else. It is a Mississippi Kite. I could describe it simple “small dark raptor. . .the bird was very dark, had pointed wings and a long tail square and fan shaped. . .no streaking was visible.” Or: "was seen in flight without binoculars, that it had pointed wings and did not fly like an accipiter, and when seen with binoculars after it perched “it had a lighter head with a small bill and a dark body.” And in simplest terms give a adequate description of a MIKI. I am very familiar with MIKI from most SE states and mid Atlantic states; as well as southern US and the SW. They like towns and residential areas with abundant mature deciduous trees with full crowns, often near water. PH on ebirds -- David Tan Columbus [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]