Spring 2023 -- White-Tailed Kites of Peñasquitos – Successful Brood!!

By Jeanie Anderson

With our very wet Spring, there was an opportunity for the Peñasquitos White-tailed Kites to breed – as they rely on meadow voles which rely on the grasses and seeds for food. In the past drought years, it has been a challenge for them. With the help of my Friends – thank you Les Braund and Dave Fortner – I did a photo trek to the canyon on May 26th to capture images of their successful brood. You will note that the young kites have a brownish wash particularly on their breast – it is a pigment called porphyrin. As they get exposed to UV light, the pigment degrades and their true color white feathers are displayed.

Enjoy these images of the Kites as they learn to fly and hover hunt for their prey items, land on a perch and enjoy sitting together.

Kites hover hunt in morning and evening when their prey is active

Perched on a Sycamore branch

Lower Kite has prey item in its claws!

Demonstrating the dihedral wing configuration for their hover hunting

Kites are 12 ounces and can hover for 2 minutes… fierce angels of the sky

Sitting Pretty – these juveniles are siblings have been together all their life

So “where can I see the Kites?” you ask. After the young Kites fledge and gain skill in hover hunting on their own, they instinctively disperse from their nest area to find their own hunting grounds. You can search for them hovering over open fields and hillsides for their favorite prey, the meadow vole. We have reports of them hunting near the Hwy 56 exit to Black Mountain in the evening. Remember to search in the sky for a white bird hovering, facing toward the Sun, early in the morning or late evening.

Hope you see them hovering over Peñasquitos one evening soon!