News of Suwannee II

As we did for Suwannee, our Friends group now is helping fund the tracker for Suwannee II, another Swallow-tailed Kite who nests on the Lower Suwannee Refuge in the spring and summer and migrates to Brazil in the winter. See an earlier blog post.

When Suwannee II was captured and outfitted with the tracker, the researchers took one of the feathers for DNA analysis. Ta Dah! They learned that Suwannee II is a female.

From data already downloaded by the tracker we know that on 5 July, she headed north to Georgia, spending time on the Altamaha and Savannah Rivers for 18 days until returning south on 23 July.  She returned to the Suwannee River and visited areas around her nest site once again. She continued south on 31 July and after four more days and nights she took off from Cape Sable in the Everglades on 4 August to western Cuba. In the morning of 5 August, she flew off across the Gulf of Mexico to Puerto Morelos, Mexico.  She stayed in Quintana Roo, Mexico ten more days until continuing south.

Ken Meyer, the featured speaker at our 2020 Annual Meeting, and Gina Kent, his fellow researcher at Avian Research and Conservation Institute,  will post updates on the Institute's blog and send us information to share here on Friends website.

The latest data on Suwannee II's migration.