Observations on the Mississippi Kite in Southwestern Kansas

A field study documents the ecology and behavior of the Mississippi kite in southwestern Kansas, focusing on a breeding colony at Meade County State Park. The author and assistants recorded habitat preferences, nesting distribution in cottonwood groves established near impoundments, colony expansion as trees matured, social breeding behavior with little territoriality, slight sexual dimorphism and size measures, population estimates of roughly 100–150 breeding birds, varied foraging across water, groves and open plains, and diet determined from pellet analysis, while situating these observations within the species' broader migratory and southeastern range context.