Mississippi Kites are almost ready!

The Mkites are almost ready. There is one slow child who seems to like being hand fed, but all the others are ready. These small raptors are very social and stay in groups so Jr. has to start feeding himself so they can all go together.

I was able to catch them in one area with the camera and actually get some pictures. The following pictures are from 2 days ago. Keep in mind their size, they are bigger than doves but smaller than crows.

This is Jr. the 1st year Mkite. Notice his very light coloration. Also notice between his eyes and beak there dark depressions, or pits. This serves Mkites the same was the mylar stripe serves falcons by cutting down on reflections.  

This picture has a very mature male on the left and a second year Mkite on the right. The mature Kite has clear red eyes. Notice the drastic color change from the previous picture to the mature kite in this picture. This has caused problems in folks properly identifying juvenile Mkites. Notice the Mkite on the right you can see the pit in front of the eye.

Same two again. Very good color comparison. The mature Mkite is holding his wing at an odd angle because of a pellet rifle wound that broke the bone. He has healed and is fully flighted.

Here is one more of Jr.

Here is the other juvenile, who does know how to self feed. He came up from Laurens Wildlife in Dublin with a fractured wing.

While these pictures aren't absolutely perfect they are a great close up of the new raptor in the neighborhood. I carried the camera in my pocket for 2 weeks trying to get some pictures. This series was the only success. Mkites are so flighty they will scatter if you look at them wrong, so I must have been looking at them just right. Hope you enjoy these and understand why I seemed so frustrated trying to verbally describe the coloration.

The goal is to get them out in the next 2-3 days while there are still big insects for them to eat.