Wildlife And Habitat

2013 July
Sabine, Pearl, and Pascagoula Rivers 
Texas-Louisiana-Mississipi

One of the most graceful of the world’s soaring raptors and the largest of the kite family, the swallow-tailed kite looks like a star as it flies, with a deeply-forked tail spread out behind its long, narrow, angular wings in almost a 2-to-1 ratio (wingspan about 4 ft to body length about 2 ft). Black tips and trailing edges on their wings and their black tail contrast sharply with their white heads and underbodies, giving them a striking and distinctive appearance.

Or so the books said. It’s a different story flying 400 feet above the treetops in fog and mist looking for these elusive angels! Even with powerful zoom lenses and fast shutter speeds, it was a challenge to see and count them while maintaining enough altitude and flying quietly enough to ensure that we did not disturb them.  Until we actually saw some swallow-tailed kites from the air, and our eyes and brains adapted to the small features we sought among the canopy of trees, it was pretty discouraging. The less experienced among us (myself included) began by eagerly calling out lichen, or egrets, once even a field of watermelon. But that just added to the thrill when we finally started finding the real thing. Check out the following pairs of photos: The photos on the left are what we saw with our eyes, those on the right are what the camera zoom lens showed us later. (The first two pairs of photos are swallow-tailed kites on the Pascagoula and Pearl Rivers, the third pair is a colony of egrets along the Pearl River.)

{gallery}201307-STKIs-TopTeasers{/gallery}

Most of the swallow-tailed kites (STKIs) that still exist on this planet make their homes in the wetlands and wooded bottomlands along rivers of the Gulf Coast states.  They are officially listed as “threatened” and are considered by many to be overdue for greater protection under the Endangered Species Act. In fact, the global population of swallow-tailed kites is thought to be less than 150,000. The primary cause of their decline is neither predation nor disease; it is the fact that their natural habitat -- wetlands and bottomland forests -- are being destroyed, polluted, and generally overtaken by humans for recreation, agriculture, or industry.  While researching their populations and nesting areas is very important to protect these birds, it is most critical that we preserve the quality of the bottomland forests and swamps along the few remaining natural river systems of the southeast US.

In late July of this year, we joined with Orleans Audubon’s premier kite researcher, Ms. Jennifer Coulson, to help her document STKI populations along the Sabine, Pearl, and Pascagoula Rivers. Besides having sharp eyes and flying quietly above the trees at an altitude close enough to see them but far enough not to disturb them, it was critical on these flights that we be there at sunrise. This is when the kites seek out large dead trees or high tree tops in order to dry out their wings in unobstructed sunlight and good airflow.  Later in the morning, they disperse to fly in search of food, and then it is difficult to see them and impossible to get reliable population counts.

Although challenging, this would all be easy enough -- until you add the morning fog and lingering storm systems that mark the Gulf Coast during July and August!  More often than not we found ourselves being squeezed between clouds above and trees below, and we had to turn back from our planned survey routes.  But we were persistent, and when weather stopped us in one direction, we surveyed in another direction. By the end of the week, we had made two successful flights covering each of the southern 75 miles of the Pascagoula and Sabine Rivers and three flights along the southern 100 miles of the Pearl River.

Surprisingly little is known for certain about swallow-tailed kites, except that their numbers have been dwindling. They form breeding pairs and roost in large groups, breeding in spring here and migrating together to South America for the winters. Since these are gliding birds who look for thermals to carry them effortlessly, they fly along the coast in their “circum-Gulf” migration rather than straight across the Gulf of Mexico -- unlike the small but intrepid “trans-Gulf” travelers such as warblers, vireos, and tanagers! (Aren’t birds just amazing?) Thanks to swallow-tailed kites who carry transmitters as “backpacks”, researchers have documented their migrations southward along Florida’s Gulf coast, southwest to Cuba and then the Yucatan Peninsula, on to central America, then following land southeastward to South America. There are some treacherous over-water crossings and mountainous areas on these routes! (See maps of these and find much more information at sites such as arcinst.org.)

We observed first-hand some of the following characteristics that are generally known about swallow-tailed kites:  They tended to roost in groups, and in proximity to water, perhaps for the ready availability of insects, although we know that they also hunt small vertebrates. Viewed from above, we noticed a bluish tone to their black upper parts when the sun hit them at certain angles. Those we saw flying never seemed to be flapping their wings, but we could see their tails rotating as they maneuvered between trees and just above the water.  Being amateur glider pilots ourselves, we thought “What a dream glider set-up, to have those wings plus that tail!”

Many of the same observations held for the smaller, brown Mississippi kites we saw along the Pearl and Pascagoula Rivers.  We were also treated to the sight of a fair number of ibises, herons, egrets and egret rookeries, and even a bald eagle. Enroute back to New Orleans from the Sabine River, we spotted first a couple of groups of lovely roseate spoonbills, followed by a large colony of woodstorks! The spoonbills are good-sized birds, with about 4-ft wingspans and a bit longer than the kites, but the woodstorks are downright enormous!  They were soaring gracefully in formation, their wingspans about 5 ft across and their bodies a good 3 ft long.

Here are a few of our favorite photos, plus a video of the mirror-smooth Lake Pontchartrain just before sunrise on July 29, the day of our third Pearl River survey. Many more photos from all of the flights are in the galleries below.  Last but not least, maps of our flights and our transcribed flight logs are at the bottom of this article.  Enjoy!

Here are favorites from the Pearl River:

{gallery}201307-Pearl1_3-Teasers{/gallery}

Here are some from the Pascagoula River:

{gallery}201307-Pasca1_2-Teasers{/gallery}

Here are some from the Sabine River:

{gallery}201307-Sabine1_2-Teasers{/gallery}

Here are some stills and a video from the ethereal-looking mirror-smooth Lake Pontchartrain just before sunrise on July 29, when the sun lit up the thunderheads to our west like fire:

{gallery}20130729-Pearl3-SunriseLakePont-Teasers{/gallery}

{gallery}20130729-Pearl3-SunriseLakePont-Gallery{/gallery}

Here are some galleries of more photos from each of the rivers. 
The Pearl River (flown on July 22, July 25, and July 29):

{gallery}201307-Pearl1_3-Gallery{/gallery}

The Pascagoula River (flown on July 24 and July 27):

{gallery}201307-Pasca1_2-Gallery{/gallery}

The Sabine River (flown on July 23 and July 28):

{gallery}201307-Sabine1_2-Gallery{/gallery}

________________________________

Here are maps showing our flight tracks for each of the flights, followed by our detailed flight logs.

Pearl River Flight #1, July 22:

{gallery}20130722-PearlRiver1-Maps{/gallery}

Pearl River Flight #2, July 25:

{gallery}20130725-Pearl2-Maps{/gallery}

Pearl River Flight #3, July 29:

{gallery}20130729-Pearl3-Maps{/gallery}

Pascagoula River Flight #1, July 24:

{gallery}20130724-Pascagoula1-Maps{/gallery}

Pascagoula River Flight #2, July 27:

{gallery}20130727-Pascagoula2-Maps{/gallery}

Sabine River Flights #1 and #2, July 23 and July 28:

{gallery}201307-Sabine1_2-Maps{/gallery}

*******   FLIGHT LOGS of STKI Flights July 22-29, 2013     *******

20130728 - Pascagoula River 2 - On Wings Of Care Flight with Orleans Audubon for Swallow-tailed Kites

WPT             LAT         LON       TIME (Z)         DESCRIPTION

3.  Sabine River:  Flights 1 & 2  (20130723,0728)