#ABArare – Mississippi Kite – Manitoba

I mentioned this record in the most recent Rare Bird Alert, but it’s so remarkable it deserves a little more coverage. Since at least mid-July, birders in Winnipeg, Manitoba, have been reporting an unusual raptor in the area, but one which was not showing well and not giving looks that would unquestionably confirm the bird’s identity. The first report on the Manitoba listerv was made by Michael Loyd, who reported the bird near the Assiniboine River, first identifying it as Mississippi Kite, a potential provincial first.

The kite was quickly confirmed by many birders, and that initial sighting turned into two kites, which turned into an active nest, which turned into a nest with a chick. The nesting record is potentially the first for Canada for this species primarily associated with the southern tier of the ABA Area, but which has a reputation for expanding its nesting range in impressive ways.

A first for the province of Manitoba, and a potential first nesting record for Canada, photo by Michael Loyd

The location of the nest is being kept private so as to not unduly stress the birds, but the adults have been seen hawking insects regularly in the vicinity of the intersection of Wellington Crescent and Montrose Street in Winnipeg, now known by Winnipeg birders as “kite corner”.

As mentioned above, the classy and highly migratory Mississippi Kite is a breeder across the southern part of the ABA Area, and increasingly a vagrant to the north. There are a number of records for Canada; unsurprisingly most are from southern Ontario, but Quebec and Nova Scotia can boast of the species as well. This isn’t the first time that a first Mississippi Kite record has been so closely followed by a first breeding record. In an occurrence remarkably similar to this situation in Winnipeg, a pair of Mississippi Kites nested in Newmarket, New Hampshire, in 2008. At the time that was a first record for the state and a first breeding record for New England, but those birds, or another pair, have returned to breed every year since. Perhaps we may see the same thing happen in Manitoba.