Mississippi kite, Ictinia mississippiensis

Damage Prevention and Control Methods

Exclusion and Habitat Modification

Preventing access of the adult kites to the nesting areas, which should deter subsequent diving, is difficult and not practical in most situations. If the nest can be removed in compliance with a US Fish and Wildlife Service permit, further nesting at that site may be deterred by removing one of the branches that supported the nest or by fencing out the nest area with hard-ware cloth.

Nest Avoidance

Avoiding the area around Mississippi kite nests, from incubation through fledging (mid-June through mid-August), is one of the best methods to prevent kites from diving at people. To reduce conflicts at golf courses, or parks, people can be encouraged to stay away from a nest by placing yellow-plastic tape that says “Do Not Enter” in a 50-yard (50-m) radius around the nest. If the nesting area cannot be avoided, wearing a hat should prevent the rare occurrence of a kite strike but will not prevent diving. Place protective netting in the kites’ path of flight to prevent them from diving in certain areas.

Frightening

People who are attacked by kites should wave their arms or other objects to frighten the offending birds. You may encourage kites to nest else-where by placing a life-sized kite effigy in a previously used nest or in a human-made nest before kites arrive in the spring. The greatest average distance that kites ranged from their nest while performing aggressive behavior was 35 yards (32 m) in one study. Decoys should therefore be placed in all potential nest trees within at least 50 yards of the area to be protected.

Repellents

No chemical bird repellents (for example, sticky pastes, sprays) currently registered by EPA have prevented kites from nesting in an area.

Toxicants

No chemical toxicants are currently registered by EPA for Mississippi kite control.

Trapping or Shooting

Trapping or shooting Mississippi kites is seldom warranted. Permits for such activities are required by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the local state wildlife agency. These permits likely will not be granted in most cases.

Nest Removal

Removal of the adult kite’s eggs, young, and nest will usually terminate diving behavior. However, this practice is not legal without a special permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Eggs and young that are removed from an offending kite’s nest usually are transferred to another kite’s nest located outside the problem area. Choose foster kite nests that have eggs or young at the same developmental stage as in the problem nest. Usually, no more than one chick is added to a nest. Additional material may need to be wired to the foster nest to enlarge it. Occasionally, eggs or young may be incubated and/or reared by humans. Some kites, whose eggs or young have been removed, may renest nearby and continue their aggressive behavior. In most instances, the severity of the diving behavior does not warrant removal of the nest, eggs, or young.