Leave young kites alone
A young Mississippi Kite
The Washita National Wildlife Refuge wants to pass on information about Mississippi kites, gray hawks that are slightly smaller than a crow.
Kites can be very protective of their nests, and many people have experienced their well-known dive-bombing when they get too close to a nest.
These small raptors often nest in western and central Oklahoma towns and the refuge has been getting numerous reports of people finding the fledling birds in places such as Clinton and Weatherford.
Residents in Edmond also have been finding young kites.
As the summer comes to a close, the young kites that were born this season are learning to fly.
They leave their nests, and often hop around on the ground flapping their wings in an effort to get airborne. It can take several days for a juvenile kite to learn how to fly.
There have been many reports of these birds being found by concerned citizens who want to help them.
If you find a young kite, the best thing to do is to leave it where you find it. Try to keep dogs and cats away to avoid injuring the bird.
If it is in a street and can be caught safely, carefully move the bird to a nearby yard or alley.
Don’t try to help a young kite learn to fly by throwing it in the air – this could injure the bird.
If the kite has an obvious injury, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator can be contacted to take the bird for treatment.
If there is no injury, it is very important to leave the kite where it is so that the parents can continue to bring food.
The Mississippi kites will be migrating to the tropics soon, and the young will need to fly with their families to find their way to their winter home.
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Comments
Of all the outdoor sports, hunting, fishing, big foot watching(hah), etc, etc. We have two redneck, drunken, deadbeats on national TV hand fishing. Reminds me of that old saying, If you’re an idiot, set down, shut up, and let them figure it out on their own.
Thank you and your readers for your concern about the young Mississippi Kite chicks. But we need to get the proper information out there, it would be a great help if you could do this. The chicks left on the ground are NOT fed by parents.
PLEASE DO NOT leave the youngsters on the ground anywhere. Unless you see a fully fledged bird (one capable of flight), the youngster will die on the ground. We are experiencing a tremendous nest failure event here in Oklahoma due to the severe temperatures and drought. As of 08-08-11, we have 178 young Kites which need hand feeding at Wildcare, located in Noble. Only a licensed rehabber such as Wildcare should attempt to feed and house these young birds. You may contact Wildcare, or drop the chick off to be picked up at the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter. Contact info below:
Injured/orphaned wildlife maybe dropped off at the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day except holidays at SE 29 & Bryant, 1.5 miles east of I-35. Wildcare picks up all wildlife at the end of each day for transport to the wildlife center.
WildCare Foundation
7601 84th St. Noble, Oklahoma – 405.872.9338
http://www.wildcareoklahoma.org
THANK YOU FOR CARING!!!! We do have a strategy planned for the timely release of these youngsters, to be reunited with adults, as they make their southern migration soon. Donations to help support our efforts are very much appreciated!
Cyndi Grafford, Wildcare Oklahoma
Ed – you should remove or update this article. This is incorrect information. Kites brood late in the summer and this summer’s extreme heat is causing nestlings to abandon the nests before they are fully fledged. Once they have abandoned the nest – the parents no longer feed. If you find a baby kite on the ground – it likely needs to be taken to Wildcare or the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter drop-off point for Wildcare.
We have a baby that’s mother is feeding it but we have cats everywhere. We have contacted a wildlife dr who is coming to get it. But just to let you know the mother is bringing the baby food.
We found a young kite in our yard that couldn’t fly and we hydrated it using a medicine syringe because it looked pretty bad, then put it back under the tree in our back yard and the parents came back and fed it. We left a large dish of water with the young bird. The next day we discovered there were two and they had moved to our front yard (lots of shade) and stood on the waterfall rock of our ornamental pond keeping cool. The parents would bring them grasshoppers and it was awesome to watch. After about a week they started flying and stayed close to our pond until they left for the winter. They were only noisy at feeding times and didn’t seem to have a fear of humans. Also, because they stayed on the waterfall, the cats left them alone. I cannot wait until they return!
I live in Broken Bow and we have enjoyed the adult Mississippi Kites here this year. I have not noticed them so abundant as this year.
They are graceful in flight and we have continued to enjoy them since their highest numbers in the spring.
Thanks for your coverage.
Lynn Walden