Readers’ wildlife photos

Well, we’re almost out of photos, folks. In fact, we’re plumb out of all but singletons. If you got any, send, them, please!

Today we have some bird photos from Damon Williford from Texas. Damon’s captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

The attached photos were taken at a municipal park of a nearby town. The species in the first four photos was the main reason that I went there for a photography outing but I’ve included photos of two other species that were present in the park.

The Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus) is a medium-sized raptor that occurs in Central and South America (year-round residents) and the U.S. (migratory populations). The breeding range of Swallow-tailed Kites in the U.S. formerly stretched across all of the south and into the Midwest, but now most of the breeding is restricted to the Deep South. Despite the range reduction, only South Carolina lists the Swallow-tailed Kite as endangered and Texas lists the species as threatened. Most of the breeding in Texas takes place in the easternmost part of the state, but a pair of Swallow-tailed Kites were reported from a city park in Ganado (about 40 miles northwest of where I live). This is the first time I’ve gotten a chance to photograph this species. The kites were very cooperative on that day. According to the American Bird Conservancy, the number of Swallow-tailed Kites breeding in the U.S. is increasing. Hopefully, nesting activity outside of the Deep South will become more widespread.

Swallow-tailed Kite, preening adult:

Swallow-tailed Kite, the second adult. Males and females look very similar so there is no way to determine the sex of the adults from their plumage:

A juvenile demanding to be fed. Young of the year juveniles can be differentiated from the adults by the yellow wash on the white parts of the plumage:

Swallow-tailed Kite in flight:

Mississippi Kite (Ictinia mississippiensis).  There were several individuals of this species in the park:

Yellow-crowned Night-heron (Nyctanassa violacea), adult:

Yellow-crowned Night-heron, juvenile: