I was excited to see a Mississippi Kite last week while I was looking for birds in western Pennsylvania. Mississippi Kites usually nest in the southern United States, from Arizona to South Carolina. In winter, they fly all the way south to Paraguay, as well as parts of southern Brazil and northern Argentina. Birds that migrate such long distances occasionally overshoot their destination or fly in the wrong direction, so I felt lucky to be in the right place at the right time. This is the first Mississippi Kite I’ve seen in Pennsylvania, and the last time I saw that species was nearly two decades ago in Texas.

Mississippi Kites are pretty small for raptors, only about the size of a crow. Their favorite prey includes insects, small mammals, and songbirds. Unlike the raptors that are common in Pennsylvania, Mississippi Kites usually don’t bother to perch after they catch prey. They bend their head down and eat while still flying.

In addition to the Mississippi Kite, there are four other species of kites in the United States. All three of those species are mostly found in South America, but you can see White-shouldered Kites in the western United States, Snail Kites in Florida, Hook-billed Kites in the southern tip of Texas, and Swallow-tailed Kites along the Gulf Coast, in Florida, and as far north as South Carolina. I saw the Swallow-tailed Kite in the photo below while it was flying far outside its normal range.