Description: FLOATING ON AIR CURRENTS over rural countryside and open city spaces, the Mississippi Kite presents a familiar sight to many people across the southern United States, although this graceful hawk is not well known by name. This engaging natural history, illustrated with superb color photographs, provides all a bird watcher needs to become acquainted with the Mississippi Kite, its life cycle, and its fascinating relationship and history with humans. Under a variety of folk names, including Blue Darter, Grasshopper Hawk, and Mosquito Hawk, the Mississippi Kite ranges throughout the southern United States from the coasts of the Carolinas to the plains of the Southwest. Bolen and Flores describe all aspects of the kite's life cycle, from breeding and nesting, raising young, and hunting and feeding to the kite's annual return to its winter range deep in South America. The authors also tell an intriguing story of the kite's discovery by Europeans in the nineteenth century. They discuss how sharing its territory with people has affected the kite's behaviors and expanded its range. Environmentalists and others will enjoy their thoughts on present-day conservation and management efforts. For bird lovers and ornithologists alike, The Mississippi Kite will be an essential introduction to a bird well worth knowing. A selection of references for further reading concludes the text.

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