Kites are medium-sized raptors belonging to the family Accipitridae (which includes eagles and hawks). They are distributed globally across every continent except Antarctica, inhabiting environments from dense forests to open grasslands. Kites are renowned for their elegant, buoyant flight, using their long wings and tails to soar effortlessly on air currents. Their survival across varied habitats is supported by a flexible and opportunistic diet, allowing them to capitalize on available food sources wherever they live.
Opportunistic Feeding and Scavenging Habits
Many kite species, such as the Red Kite and the widespread Black Kite, are opportunistic generalists rather than dedicated hunters. They prioritize low-effort foraging, making scavenging a significant component of their diet. This behavior allows them to conserve energy by consuming carrion, including roadkill and other dead animals located from the air.
Kites frequently use thermal air currents to soar high above the landscape, employing keen eyesight to spot potential food below. This energy-efficient method helps them find carcasses and disturbed prey, often leading them to follow farm machinery or feed alongside vultures. Their generalist tendencies mean many kites are comfortable foraging near human settlements, utilizing sources like discarded food and refuse.
Foraging often involves snatching food items from the ground or water surface without landing, showcasing their aerial agility. The Red Kite, for instance, is wary of landing directly on a carcass, preferring to wait until other scavengers have approached. This cautious approach minimizes risk, reflecting their reliance on found food rather than confrontation with live prey.
Diverse Prey: Common Food Sources
While scavenging is important, the active diet of most kite species is varied, encompassing multiple categories of small animals. Small mammals, such as mice, voles, and shrews, are commonly hunted, often making up a substantial part of the diet during the breeding season. These are spotted from a perch or during low-level flight over open fields.
Insects often form the bulk of a kite’s active prey, especially during warmer months when they are abundant. Kites are skilled at catching large insects like grasshoppers, cicadas, beetles, and dragonflies, snatching them directly from the air with their talons and consuming them in flight. This aerial hunting strategy provides a reliable, energy-rich food source.
Other common food items include small reptiles, such as lizards and snakes, and amphibians like frogs. Kites also consume fish, which they usually take from the water’s surface or scavenge as washed-up carcasses along shorelines. The ability to switch between these diverse prey types ensures survival when a preferred source is temporarily scarce.
Species-Specific Diet Specializations
Beyond the generalist feeders, some kite species have evolved dietary specializations, adapting their anatomy and behavior to a single type of prey. The Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) is the most famous example, relying almost exclusively on large freshwater snails, particularly those in the genus Pomacea. This specialization is supported by the kite’s uniquely slender, hooked bill, which is adapted for prying the snail’s soft body from its shell.
This species hunts by flying slowly over wetlands or perching, grabbing snails with its long talons from the water’s surface or vegetation. The Snail Kite population in Florida has shown a rapid evolutionary change, with individuals developing larger bodies and bills to better handle the invasive Pomacea maculata snail. This adaptation has allowed them to thrive on a newly available food source.
The Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus) displays a different specialization, focusing its active hunting on a variety of arboreal prey. While they consume many insects in mid-air, they are adept at gleaning tree frogs, small lizards, and the nestlings of other birds from the forest canopy. They use impressive aerial maneuverability to pick prey directly from branches and leaves without landing.
The Mississippi Kite (Ictinia mississippiensis) is a highly aerial feeder, specializing in capturing large flying insects high in the air. This species is frequently observed circling to catch prey like cicadas and dragonflies, often eating the insect in one foot while soaring. This focus on mid-air interception distinguishes its feeding strategy from the terrestrial foraging of its scavenging relatives.