That count is amazing!

I may have missed a relevant point along the train of Kite posts...but have
a personal observation that may be obvious to some and new/interesting to
others.

Last year while traveling in the Tambopata region of the peruvian amazon my
wife and a few others in our group came upon a mass hatching of huge ants.
Their thoraxes were the thicker than pencils and wings longer than an inch.
They were marching along sticks and lifting off like planes taking off
aircraft carriers.  The hum from the thousands of wings sounded like a large
building's air-conditioning unit.  (fortunately they were not biting ants).

Above us were 10 or more kites and a few other birds having lunch. The kites
were the masters of simultaneously gliding, catching and eating these ants
in the air. They would just grab with a talon and munch while looking for
the next one. The forest had all sorts of "half ants" littering the ground.
We watched for about 20 minutes.

I imagine the Kites may be enjoying the cicada meals in a similar way. If
you have not seen this feeding behavior already, perhaps they need to be
lower to pluck them from the sky. I don't know how high cicadas fly. The
last week or so should have been the bulk of the food?

I do not know enough about the Kites range of flight. My question regarding
this feeding theory is why are they this far north?  Arent the Cicadas of
Georgia ok? Perhaps it is a result of a combination of food and fronts.

just my thoughts. any opinions?

Rob Anderson in DC



>From: Edward Boyd <>
>Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding <>
>To: 
>Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Kite factory, unbelievable
>Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 16:05:35 -0400
>
>I'm hoping that the kettle remained in the area and didn't fly off?!?! Yes,
>No?
>
>Ed Boyd
>Westminster, MD
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "sean mccandless" <>
>To: <>
>Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 3:10 PM
>Subject: [MDOSPREY] Kite factory, unbelievable
>
>
>The most unbelievable thing just happened! I arrived home at 2:45, and I
>was
>greeted by Dirk Robinson,and as soon as I got out of the truck I saw the
>Swallow-tailed Kite flying in the North West sky. Mean while, The
>thunderstorm was brewing and the updraft happened! The Swallow-tailed Kite
>was met by at least 7,  that is write 7 Mississippi Kites. Hello! 8 KITES
>in
>one thermal. I saw 2 other Kites come and go from different directions.
>There could have been 9 Mississippi Kites total but Positive about 7
>Mississippi Kites. If Dirk wasn't there I don't know what I would have
>done.
>I could not believe what I saw. A kettle of Mississippi's with one
>Swallow-tailed. WOW.
>Sean McCandless