Settling in. Pressing on.

Three satellite-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites have returned safely to the US, beginning to settle into their summer home ranges, while four others continue to press north. 

Tracks and locations of seven satellite-tagged Swallow-tailed Kites from 1 March - 16 March 2015.

Since back in Florida, Day has been traveling along a 17 mile corridor from Ormond Beach to south of Port Orange.

MIA is settling into his past summer territory in south Miami.

Gulf Hammock touched US soil on 8 March after a grueling 68 hours over water, fighting strong winds in the Gulf of Mexico. It pushed her farther west than she wanted to be, making landfall in Louisiana. She took some recovery time for rest and refueling before beginning to inch east to Florida.

Pace took a very similar path as Gulf Hammock, cutting the same “corner” crossing the Bay of Honduras. As of 16 March he was in northern Quintana Roo, Mexico and almost in position to make the cross-Gulf flight to the US.

At 500 miles south of Pace on 16 March, Palmetto was in Nicaragua on the same course as the two kites north of her. Her mate, Bluff was yet another 600 miles south of her just entering into the Darien of Panama.

PearlMS was last in Amazonas of Colombia and about to cross the high peaks of the Andes Mountains.

Windswept, but safe.

As predicted, Gulf Hammock, a female Swallow-tailed Kite tagged as an adult in 2011 in Levy County, Florida, was our next satellite-tracked bird to make it back to the United States. 

Gulf Hammock faced dangerous spring winds on her northbound gulf crossing. Pushed off course, she persevered, staying aloft for 68 hours until finally reaching Louisiana's coast.

Several weeks after leaving her Bolivian winter range and passing quickly through Central America, Gulf Hammock got a jump on most of her fellow kites by cutting across the Bay of Honduras to the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, on the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. It was a short trip from there to the northeastern tip of the Peninsula, where on 5 March at 9:00 a.m. EDT, she sailed northward out over the Gulf on strong tailwinds (see the wind map for 3/5/15 17:00 UTC). 

Gulf Hammock made exceptionally good time until the middle of the night, when she slammed into powerful headwinds of the approaching high-pressure system that completely halted her northbound progress. As shown by the track segment associated with the map for 3/6/15 06:00 UTC, she looped 90 miles out to the east, then back again nearly to her original position before taking up a northwesterly heading. 

From this point, Gulf Hammock consistently flew 90 degrees off the northeasterly wind for at least 44 more hours, eventually reaching Marsh Island on the coast of western Louisiana. 

In all, this Swallow-tailed Kite had spent 68 hours aloft over the Gulf of Mexico managing her finite energy supply and choosing a path that defied the Gulf’s deadly spring winds.

Gulf Hammock nears a critical moment and shifting winds

We’re pleased to report that MIA and Day, two of our GPS/satellite-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites have made it safely to the US and have returned to their breeding territories.

Northbound migration of seven GPS/satellite-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites from 15 January to 1 March 2015. MIA and Day are the first to return safely to their US home range.

MIA moved quickly and steadily ever since leaving his winter range in southern Brazil. By 22 February he was on the northern coast of Honduras and took a 9-hour overwater shortcut to Dangriga, Belize. Pausing only briefly, he continued north and on the morning of 25 February launched from the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, committing to nearly 500 miles of open ocean. He covered the distance in 24 hours, making land on Florida’s coast just north of Sanibel Island. He crossed to the eastern part of the state, spending a night in Davie, Florida, before continuing south to his summer home range in southern Miami. On 3 March MIA was spotted bringing Spanish moss to his old nest.

Day launched seaward on the same day as MIA, however she initiated her crossing much farther south from the northern coast of Honduras. Holding a tight northward heading, she sped midway between the Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba. Once through the Yucatan Channel, she turned abruptly to the northeast, setting her eyes on Florida’s southwestern coast. She completed her 830-mile overwater flight in an astounding 28 hours. Day reached the US just south of Sanibel Island, and over the course of 3 days, slowly made her way to her Daytona residence area.

We predict the next kite to make the over-water passage will be Gulf Hammock. Presently in Nicaragua, will she fly to Florida from northern Honduras, or will she stay over land until reaching the northern tip of the Yucatan? The strong, highly favorable southerly winds of the last week or so will turn into strong northerlies by midnight tonight (5 March). The circulation around this large high pressure system will gradually shift to the northeast and east, but winds will remain unfavorable for at least the next three days. This is bad news for Swallow-tailed Kites and birds of all species that are already out over the Gulf of Mexico and heading north. However, the large size of this system at least means that the headwinds are apparent to all the birds now staging on the northern coast of the Yucatan, thus discouraging them from beginning a northbound flight that very likely could be fatal.

Pace slowed his progress in the rich Amazon region of Brazil. He tarried for 10 days between 16 and 27 February. He is now 50 miles into Colombia.

The remaining three birds are still in Brazil and slowly moving north. The breeding pair of kites Palmetto (female) and Bluff (male) are 260 miles apart with Bluff in the lead. PearlMS, the last kite to leave the US and also the northern-most wintering kite, started north on 24 February, the day before MIA and Day crossed the Gulf to Florida. PearlMS is in Rondonia, Brazil.