{"id":146891,"date":"2025-05-25T03:42:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T08:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=146891"},"modified":"2025-05-26T18:36:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T23:36:54","slug":"mississippi-kite-at-wichita-mountains-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/25\/mississippi-kite-at-wichita-mountains-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi Kite At Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Mississippi Kite was one of many I saw and photographed earlier this month at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

\"PerchedPerched Mississippi Kite at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f9, 1\/800, ISO 800, +1.0 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The kites seemed to prefer perching out in the open on snags in the oak forests at the refuge. The snags were near live trees they use for nesting.<\/p>\n

I also noticed that the kites seemed to have favorite perches, something I\u2019ve seen with hummingbirds<\/span><\/a> and other birds out west.<\/p>\n

Seeing these graceful raptors on the wing, on the hunt, and even mating at the refuge was terrific.<\/p>\n

One thing that caught my attention while photographing the kites at the refuge was their calls. They\u2019re decidedly unraptorish and actually took me by surprise. Listen to a few of their calls here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen Mississippi Kites in Arkansas as flyovers, but I haven\u2019t been able to photograph them or find their nesting areas here.<\/p>\n

Mississippi Kites are exceptional aerialists, often seen twisting and swooping through the sky as they catch insects midair, sometimes even eating their prey while flying.<\/p>\n

Mississippi Kites are highly social and will often roost and hunt in groups, sometimes forming sizable flocks during migration or while foraging over open fields, including following tractors to snatch up insects stirred from the grass.<\/p>\n

These kites are long distance migrants that breed in the southern United States and winter in South America.<\/p>\n

I truly enjoyed seeing, hearing, and photographing the Mississippi Kites at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge. They are strikingly handsome birds of prey and are fascinating to observe whether they are on the wing, perched, or on the hunt.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Mississippi Kite photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Mississippi Kite was one of many I saw and photographed earlier this month at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,16439,15205,13973,16438],"tags":[4004,2663,10422,15210,15212,15213,15211,16467,4104,153,4018,8453,165,4427],"class_list":["post-146891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-comanche-county","category-mississippi-kites","category-oklahoma","category-wichita-mountains-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-dead-tree","tag-ictinia-mississippiensis","tag-kite","tag-kites","tag-mississippi-kite","tag-oak-forest","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-sky","tag-snag","tag-spring","tag-tree"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mississippi-kite-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3488.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-Cdd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":129501,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/06\/15\/mississippi-kite-photos-from-tishomingo-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":146891,"position":0},"title":"Mississippi Kite Photos From Tishomingo NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, I finally took some Mississippi Kite photos that I'm happy with during a trip to Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge. They are such striking raptors.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mississippi Kite in a willow tree, Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge, Johnston County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/mississippi-kite-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-4836.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/mississippi-kite-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-4836.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/mississippi-kite-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-4836.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/mississippi-kite-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-4836.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":145882,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/22\/male-prairie-lizard-at-wichita-mountains-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":146891,"position":1},"title":"Male Prairie Lizard at Wichita Mountains NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A quick share this morning of a male Prairie Lizard I photographed on a boulder at a campsite at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge last week.","rel":"","context":"In "Comanche County"","block_context":{"text":"Comanche County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/comanche-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Prairie Lizard at a campsite in Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/prairie-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-6545.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/prairie-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-6545.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/prairie-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-6545.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/prairie-lizard-male-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-6545.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":144569,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/18\/lark-sparrow-on-lichen-covered-rocks\/","url_meta":{"origin":146891,"position":2},"title":"Lark Sparrow On Lichen Covered Rocks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This Lark Sparrow was on such a beautiful pile of lichen-covered rocks at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge last week that I had to take a photo.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lark Sparrow on lichen covered rocks at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lark-sparrow-lichen-rocks-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-2684.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lark-sparrow-lichen-rocks-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-2684.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lark-sparrow-lichen-rocks-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-2684.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lark-sparrow-lichen-rocks-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-2684.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":144303,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/16\/young-black-tailed-prairie-dog-with-parent\/","url_meta":{"origin":146891,"position":3},"title":"Young Black-tailed Prairie Dog With Parent","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm back from Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, where I was thrilled to photograph a young Black-tailed Prairie Dog at a burrow with an adult.","rel":"","context":"In "Black-tailed Prairie Dogs"","block_context":{"text":"Black-tailed Prairie Dogs","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/black-tailed-prairie-dogs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-tailed Prairie Dog and baby at their burrow, Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-tailed-prairie-dogs-WMNWR-mia-mcpherson-6260.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-tailed-prairie-dogs-WMNWR-mia-mcpherson-6260.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-tailed-prairie-dogs-WMNWR-mia-mcpherson-6260.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-tailed-prairie-dogs-WMNWR-mia-mcpherson-6260.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":145779,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/21\/wild-turkey-portraits-from-wichita-mountains-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":146891,"position":4},"title":"Wild Turkey Portraits From Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm sharing a few Wild Turkey portraits taken last week near a creek at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Comanche County, Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Comanche County"","block_context":{"text":"Comanche County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/comanche-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wild Turkey close up at Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Comanche County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-portrait-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-4342.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-portrait-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-4342.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-portrait-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-4342.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/wild-turkey-portrait-wichita-mountains-nwr-mia-mcpherson-4342.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":129511,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/06\/16\/yellow-billed-cuckoo-aka-rain-crow\/","url_meta":{"origin":146891,"position":5},"title":"Yellow-billed Cuckoo aka Rain Crow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"In addition to getting Mississippi Kite images I liked on my last visit to Tishomingo NWR, I finally took some Yellow-billed Cuckoo photos that I enjoy too.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-billed Cuckoo aka Rain Crow in Oklahoma, Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge, Johnston County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/yellow-billed-cuckoo-adult-tishomingo-nwr-mia-mcpherson-4490.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/yellow-billed-cuckoo-adult-tishomingo-nwr-mia-mcpherson-4490.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/yellow-billed-cuckoo-adult-tishomingo-nwr-mia-mcpherson-4490.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/yellow-billed-cuckoo-adult-tishomingo-nwr-mia-mcpherson-4490.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}