Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts
Mississippi Kite (Ictinia mississippiensis)
Abundance: Occasional (1 record in each of 3 Tennessee counties, each involving a single individual).
Status: Transient during spring (3 records); designated as a breeding species of special concern by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission (2004); designated as in need of management by the Tennessee Division of Natural Heritage (2004); sight records.
Information on Records:
13 May 1951 (1) Standing Stone State Park, Overton County, Tennessee (Albert F. Ganier, m. ob.; Ganier 1951a), a Spring Bird Count record.
12 May 2001 (1--second-year) Mine Like Creek, Center Hill Lake, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2001c, Hoff 2001a), a Spring Bird Count record.
24 May 2008 (1) Allen Ferry Rd., DeKalb County, Tennessee (Douglas A. Downs unpubl. data), a DeKalb County Foray record.
YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.
Foray Results: Abundance and distribution based on UCR Foray data are mapped as follows:
Habitat: Two of the Regional sight records (in Overton and Putnam counties, TN) involve birds observed flying and foraging in stereotypical manner--i. e., hawking for aerial insects--over steep, wooded hillsides near a body of water; the third record (in DeKalb County, TN) involved a perched bird but took place in the same habitat. At many locations where this raptor breeds, including western Tennessee and western Kentucky, a river is present nearby, so some of the larger rivers of the Region, including the Cumberland and Caney Fork, might attract this aerial insectivore during future spring migration seasons.
Remarks: Note the similarity of the dates of the Regional sightings; mid- to late May is clearly the time to be looking for this attractive raptor.
Counties with Observations (boldfaced):
| Barren | Metcalfe | Adair | Russell | Pulaski |
| Monroe | Cumberland | Clinton | Wayne | McCreary |
| Macon | Clay | Pickett | Fentress | Scott |
| Smith | Jackson | Overton | Putnam | Morgan |
| DeKalb | White | Cumberland | ||
| Warren | Van Buren | Bledsoe |
To see a map (Figure 1) displaying the data in the table above, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.
Literature Cited:
