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SWALLOW-TAILED KITE INITIATIVE
Background.
Swallow-tailed kites (STKI) breed in the southeastern U.S and
winter in South America. Although
STKIs once nested in as many as 21 states as far north as Minnesota, the
species has never recovered from severe declines at the turn of the
century and now nests only in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas.
The U.S. breeding population is estimated at 800 to 1,200 pairs,
or about 3,500 to 5,000 individuals at the end of the breeding season.
Florida likely harbors about two-thirds of the remaining STKIs
with small populations in each of the other seven states ranging from
less than 5 pairs in Arkansas to about 100 to 150 pairs each in Georgia
and South Carolina. These
smaller populations are associated primarily with forested wetlands of
major rivers and associated creeks in the Atlantic and Gulf coastal
plains. The STKI is
considered a species of high conservation concern by Partners in Flight
(PIF) and included in the PIF and Audubon WatchLists. Georgia
Swallow-tailed Kite Initiative.
Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) began soliciting
reports of STKIs in 1997. Through August 2002, over 1400 reports have been included in
the Observation Database. Other
reports have been received, but location information was insufficient to
determine a latitude and longitude for inclusion.
These reports can be examined by date and provide valuable
information for locating active nest areas, identifying areas and
habitats important for roosting and foraging, determining dispersal and
movement patterns after young kites have left the nest, and
pre-migration movements. Each
breeding season location is visited and categorized as a Possible,
Probable, or Confirmed nest area. Through
a cooperative agreement with Dr. Ken Meyer of the Avian Research and
Conservation Institute, in 1999, we began a 4-year intensive study of
STKIs using funds from the sale of Georgia’s Wildlife License Plates
and supplemented with federal funds through the Wildlife Conservation
and Reinvestment Program (aka “CARA lite”).
The objectives of the study are to determine distribution and
abundance; identify critical nesting, roosting, and foraging areas; and
through location and monitoring of nests, determine habitat
associations, nesting success, and productivity.
Results are used to develop management recommendations and work
with public and private landowners to provide necessary habitats to
support the population of kites in Georgia. Our
efforts are funded primarily with Wildlife License Plate revenues from
the sale of the original Quail and Longleaf Pine tag.
Efforts are coordinated with activities in other southeastern
states and internationally. In
2002, with additional funding from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
the Altamaha Partnership (The Nature Conservancy, WRD, International
Paper, and Plum Creek Timber Company), Georgia joined South Carolina and
Florida in a regional initiative to determine the status of STKIs,
identify the components necessary for Candidate Conservation Agreements
with landowners and develop a regional Conservation and Monitoring
Strategy. Results. The first documented nest in Georgia was found in April 1999 in Long County near the Altamaha River. A total of 9 nests were found in 1999, 23 nests in 2000, and 38 nests in 2001, and 32 nests in 2002. Most nests have been located in the tops of very tall loblolly pines within or adjacent to bottomland forests associated with the Altamaha, Satilla, Crooked, South Newport, St. Mary’s, Canoochee, Savannah and Ogeechee Rivers. The majority of nests are located on private lands with many located on land managed by industrial forest companies. The percentage of nests on private lands has ranged from 80-97 % annually. Most nests have been located during helicopter surveys, although canoe and ground surveys have been useful in determining areas frequented by kites. Additionally, surveys of nest building activity conducted in early April using a giant Condor crane provided by Georgia Power have been very helpful in identifying areas of high activity and in promoting reports from the public. Location of active nests is critical to achieving the objectives of the kite initiative. When
nests are found, they are monitored at approximately weekly intervals to
determine success, productivity, and timing for capture of juveniles for
collection of sex and age data and, if appropriate, placement of radio
transmitters. From
1999-2001, the median egg-laying date was 14 April with an overall range
of laying occurring from 2 April to 3 May.
The nesting success is fairly good with an average of 50%.
When success is corrected using the Mayfield method which
accounts for nests that fail early in the nesting cycle and are thus
never found, the average success is 31%.
Interestingly, nests on the Altamaha River appear to be more
successful than those on the Satilla. Habitat measurements taken at each
nest indicate that kites select one of the larger trees in the nest
area. With the exception of
1 nest in a cypress and 4 nests in hardwood trees (oaks or sweetgum),
all nests have been in loblolly pines. Numerous
juvenile kites have been captured at nests in 2000 - 2002.
For all captured birds, measurements and blood samples are taken.
The blood samples allow us to determine the sex and allow for
genetic analysis. Radio
transmitters were placed on 23 juveniles and several were located in
their wintering habitats in Brazil in 2000 -2002!
Returning birds have also been located near their original
capture locations on the Altamaha and Satilla Rivers.
In 2002, 4 adults were captured using mist nets and outfitted
with satellite transmitters. All
4 birds, including a breeding pair from the Waverly nest, have been
tracked on their southbound migration.
Three birds traveled from south Florida, across Cuba, and to the
Yucatan peninsula before heading south.
The fourth bird, one half of the Waverly breeding pair, traveled
around the Gulf and headed south through Texas and Mexico.
Two of these adults were lost during migration and in combination
with information from the juveniles provide important indications of
survival. Information
obtained from the STKI Initiative has already been useful in working
with landowners to conserve the habitats needed by kites for breeding,
foraging and roosting. Interest
and willingness to conserve kite nesting areas has been overwhelmingly
positive on both public and private lands.
Almost every private landowner has been keenly interested in the
fate of nests on their property and in the overall conservation of the
species. Corporate timber
companies now routinely identify kite nesting areas as sites of special
interest for consideration during management planning and activities.
Management plans include setting aside kite nest trees with
sufficient buffers to allow for successful nesting.
These corporate landowners are also considering restoration of
pine habitats that likely contained kite nests in the past.
In Georgia, providing for kite nesting, roosting and foraging
habitats within an actively managed landscape that includes forestry and
agriculture will be crucial to the long-term success of our kite
population. 2003 Field Season. So far, during ground searches, Stacie Schoppman and Bill Marrs, the 2003 Kite Field Team, have found 1 active nest at Gill Bay on Doctors Creek, a tributary of the Altamaha River. Helicopter surveys begin the week of April 9. So please keep sending in your ST Kite Observations and be specific about the location. Those observations continue to be one of the most valuable sources of information relative to kite distribution and habitat use. E. J. Williams Return to Georgia DNR Swallow-tailed Kite Monitoring Project
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