Observations on the Mississippi Kite in Southwestern Kansas — Text and Context

Diction and the Language of Observation

Fitch's prose is deliberately unadorned, favoring verbs of action and precise nouns over descriptive flourishes. He writes that kites "swooped," "heckled," and "harassed" intruders, and that a hawk was "pursued and harassed by the kites." The repetition of "harass" and "heckle" underscores the persistent, collective nature of the birds' defense. When describing a group of eight kites that "congregated within two minutes to scold and harass," the word "congregated" suggests a rapid, purposeful assembly. Fitch also uses careful qualifiers: kites were "relatively silent and secretive" in early June, but later "behavior at the nest was much different." These contrasts are drawn without hyperbole, grounding the narrative in observable shifts.

Voice and the Role of the Observer

Fitch positions himself as a persistent but unobtrusive presence. He notes that on "dozens of occasions" kites swooped at him but "always veered away at a distance of several feet or several yards." The exception—the single aggressive kite—is described through a secondhand account from park superintendent Harry Smith, who reported being struck "frequently" at the same spot over three years. Fitch does not claim to have identified the bird individually; instead, he relies on Smith's testimony and the bird's "unusually aggressive behavior" as a marker. This restraint is characteristic: Fitch acknowledges the limits of his methods, as when he notes that a group of four fledglings "possibly all belonged to the same brood, but this was not definitely determined."

Structure and the Temporal Frame

The study is organized around three visits: early June, mid-July, and early August. This simple chronology allows Fitch to track changes in behavior as the breeding season progresses. In June, incubating kites were "relatively silent and secretive," with only half flushing when approached. By July, parents with nestlings "began scolding and swooping" immediately upon detection. The shift is not merely noted but quantified: in June, 50 percent of flushed kites swooped at least once; in July, groups of eight or more kites would gather to harass intruders. Fitch also embeds historical context through citations of Audubon, Bent, and others, but he uses these references to highlight gaps—such as the lack of attention to "social behavior and food habits" in the northwestern part of the kite's range.

Recurring Details: Nests, Pellets, and Predators

Several concrete details recur across the excerpts. Nests are described as "relics from earlier years," with darkened, disintegrating material, though Fitch speculates that a new layer of sticks had been added. He records clutch sizes: 12 clutches of two eggs, consistent with earlier reports. Pellets were analyzed by William N. Berg, and insect identifications were checked by Dr. George W. Byers—a collaborative approach that underscores the study's reliance on specialized expertise. Mortality factors are listed succinctly: crows, jays, larger hawks, owls, raccoons, and "sudden and violent summer storms." The storms are mentioned without elaboration, but the phrase "characteristic of the" region hints at an environmental pressure that Fitch does not develop further, leaving the reader to infer the precariousness of kite reproduction.

Joint Defense and Interspecific Hostility

One of the most striking observations is the kites' coordinated defense against other raptors. On July 21, 1961, 21 kites were seen swooping at a Swainson's hawk, pursuing it for nearly a quarter mile even though no kite nests were nearby. A similar incident on August 4 involved six kites heckling a fledgling Swainson's hawk, sometimes brushing it with their wings. Dr. Hibbard reported an instance where a horned owl was chased by both a red-tailed hawk and a group of kites, with the kites seeming to regard the owl as "the greater enemy." Fitch generalizes that "ordinarily any large raptor arouses their hostility," but he does not speculate on the evolutionary function of this behavior. The descriptions are vivid yet restrained, focusing on what was seen rather than what it might mean.

Fitch's monograph is a model of concise, evidence-based natural history. Readers interested in the craft of field observation will find value in his careful documentation of individual variation, his use of multiple visits to capture behavioral change, and his willingness to acknowledge uncertainty. The study does not attempt to generalize beyond its data, but its specific details—the aggressive kite that struck vehicles, the 21 kites mobbing a hawk, the nests reused across years—offer a grounded portrait of a species at the edge of its range.

Fitch's kites, watched alone on the Kansas prairie, reminded me of how I once felt, notebook in hand, following a warbler’s path. That patient, quiet years of tracking—noticing who returns, who flinches—felt like a private conversation. It echoed the same steady wonder I found later in Migration of Birds (1979) — Text and Context, its pages whispering that every wingbeat is a story waiting for someone to simply sit and watch.