Swallow-tailed Kites: A New Chapter

Friends will contribute $2,500 toward this project. It is at the top of our Wish List for donations this month. Would you be willing and able to help? See our Wish List!

Friends has helped sponsor the tracking devices for two of the Swallow-tailed Kites that nest the Lower  Suwannee NWR. By following the birds' behaviors and movements while they are nesting on the Refuge, our staff can plan for and maintain habitat important to the iconic species.

The tracker on the original Suwannee stopped transmitting several years ago. Because the device on Suwannee 22, who was outfitted with her tracker in 2022, is at the end of its expected power, Friends wants to help sponsor our third bird. 

credit ARCI/Google maps

Back in August 2024 when Suwannee 22, had just taken off from the Refuge to fly to Brazil for the winter, Hurricane Debby hit the Gulf. Suwannee was caught in Debby’s fury, made it into the eye of the storm, and rode the storm back to Refuge. She made it alive but depleted and started her work to recover her strength and try again.

credit to NOAA/USA Today network/USA Today

The story was written up in USA Today and seen by David Ware, a middle-school science teacher at Parkside School in Collier County. He contacted Friends to ask if his students could partner with us. The students raised $1,300 of the money needed for the new tracker and are eager to follow the bird's flights between breeding and wintering grounds as part of their science studies. David also talked to the Florida Ornithological Society  which may help with a smaller donation.