Birds › Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

Mississippi Kite

Ictinia mississippiensis

Easily confused with

Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.

Where it is recorded

Records by month in North Carolina.January 1,685, February 2,028, March 1,876, April 3,006, May 3,017, June 1,817, July 1,455, August 1,378, September 1,780, October 1,751, November 1,356, December 1,552.
North Carolina22,702
United States21,155
Illinois18,993
Alabama16,487
Texas11,368
Kentucky11,339
Colorado10,441
Virginia9,695
New Mexico7,746
Maryland5,967

Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.

Traits

Behavioral

  • CarnivoreEats other animals or animal-derived prey as a major part of its diet.Inferred from its group
  • DiurnalActive primarily during the dayFrom its classification

Group and habits

  • PredatorDescends from an animal lineage whose members commonly hunt other animals.Inferred from its group
  • Tree nestingListed by a harvested source as nesting in trees.BIRDBASE avian traits database
  • Invertebrate eaterListed by a harvested source as primarily eating invertebrates.BIRDBASE avian traits database

Classification

KingdomAnimals · Animalia
PhylumChordates · Chordata
ClassBirds · Aves
OrderHawks, Eagles, Kites, and Allies · Accipitriformes
FamilyHawks, Eagles, and Kites · Accipitridae
GenusMississippi and Plumbeous Kites · Ictinia

Study it in a deck

Or build your own from the species near you.

Sources

Remember the name next time.

Practise Mississippi Kite with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.