The summer breeding territory of the Mississippi kite is in the central and southern United States the southern Great Plains is considered a stronghold for the species. The call is a high-pitched squeak, sounding similar to the noise made by a squeaky toy. The bird is 12 to 15 inches (30–37 cm) beak to tail and has a wingspan averaging 3 feet (91 cm). Young kites have banded tails and streaked bodies. Males and females look alike, but the males are slightly paler on the head and neck. Kites of all ages have red eyes and red to yellow legs. Description Īdults are gray with darker gray on their tail feathers and outer wings and lighter gray on their heads and inner wings. It is currently classified in the subfamily Buteoninae, tribe Buteonini. He had first observed the species in the Mississippi Territory, while the bird's long pointed wings and forked tail suggested that it was a type of kite. Wilson also gave the Mississippi kite its English-language common name. The genus name derives from the Greek iktinos, for "kite". The current genus of Ictinia originated with Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot's 1816 Analyse d'une nouvelle Ornithologie Elémentaire. Wilson gave the kite the Latin binomial name of Falco mississippiensis: Falco means "falcon", while mississippiensis means from the Mississippi River in the United States. The Mississippi kite was first named and described by the Scottish ornithologist Alexander Wilson in 1811, in the third volume of his American Ornithology. It is common to see several circling in the same area. Mississippi kites have narrow, pointed wings and are graceful in flight, often appearing to float in the air. The Mississippi kite ( Ictinia mississippiensis) is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.
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