No More Messages from Suwannee 22

We will miss getting news from and about our Swallow-tailed Kite, Suwannee 22. She was tagged in the spring three years ago on the Lower Suwannee NWR by the Avian Research and Conservation Institute team with help from the Refuge staff. She was our second Kite, the successor to Suwannee, tagged in 2019, and predecessor to Suwannee Scout who has just been tagged. 

Suwannee 22's flights around the Lower Suwannee NWR and region in 2022

Suwannee 22's flight route from the Lower Suwannee NWR to Brazil in 2023

We have to hope that Suwannee 22 has outlived her tracker's battery, but we won't get more news of her.  The tracker is no longer working. She has been a hearty adventurer. 

• She was outfitted with her tracker in spring 2022, nested on the Lower Suwannee NWR each spring, and flew to Brazil for the winters each year. 
• She became One  Famous Bird in 2024 when she survived an amazing encounter with Hurricane Debby over the Gulf.
• Now, her transmitter has been silent for months and  the researchers expect that it is no longer working.
  

Farewell to our adventurer. Thanks for calling home and sharing your travels with us all these years.