Special to Lake Okeechobee News
EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK -- Everglades National Park (ENP) reports sightings of Swallow-tailed Kites.
According to ENP, Swallow-tailed Kites are one of the few birds that journey north to the Everglades to breed instead of coming south to spend the winter.
March is typically when they start arriving en masse, although there are, in more recent years, a few that arrived as early as February.
The Kites return to their wintering grounds in South America in August and September.
Although they can be found throughout the southeast in the summer, the Florida peninsula has the highest concentration of breeding Swallow-tailed Kites of anywhere in the United States.
Dragonflies are one of their favorite foods, but they will also prey on lizards, snakes, and smaller birds.