In recent weeks a couple of Kites have taken up residence in the trees near my mailbox in my driveway. I am not talking about the kind of Kite that you fly, but rather, a Kite, as in bird. As in, a “ticked off” bird!
I take my safety in my own hands by stepping out of my vehicle to check the mail. These birds, bent on driving me away, act like the infamous Japanese Kamikaze pilots of World War II. From high in the sky they plunge, seemingly recklessly toward me or my vehicle, at, or so it seems, somewhere around the speed of sound! Hell bent they are attempting to drive me, the intruder, away. Dangerous? No. Scary? Yes. I say not dangerous but, once while riding my bicycle, I did have a Kite “dive bomb” me and slam into the top of my head. I couldn’t catch it to file damages!
Why are they so jealous of the territory near my mailbox? Kites spend the summer months nesting across the southern Great Plains before migrating to South America for the winter. Nesting means there are eggs, or young chicks, nestled somewhere in the nearby trees and Mr. and Mrs. Kite are more than slightly “ticked” that I have shown up in their territory! “Get out or we will ‘dive bomb’ you!” They deliver that message over and over, just missing me or my vehicle by inches, pulling out of their plunge at the last second!
The most common Kite in Kansas is the Mississippi Kite, a sleek, medium-sized raptor with light gray plumage, dark tails, and striking red eyes. They measure 12 to 15 inches long with a, frightening for me, wingspan of 3 feet. They feed mostly on large flying insects, including cicadas, grasshoppers and beetles BUT, they act like they would most like to feed on me!
These highly graceful fliers are known to dive-bomb and swoop near nests to defend their young, especially during the months of June and July in Kansas. They say that a Kite’s nest may be located next to (or even contain) a wasp nest, which helps protect the chicks against climbing predators. That’s just another reason that I am going to leave them alone. Wasps and dive-bombing Kites; neither one fits my menu of things I like to do!
A 1-year-old Kite will often hang around the nest of a breeding pair and may help with defending the nest, incubating the eggs, or even brooding the chicks. The pair usually accepts the help, but sometimes Mom and/or Dad chases the yearling away. Perhaps we could all learn something from the Kites about kicking the children out of our nest!
My advice? Keep an eye on the sky. It is not exactly like Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” but our local Kite population’s not really happy with us intruders!
