Another New Bird Species for Barbados

This year has been full of amazing bird sightings on the island, with a new record of House Swift (Apus nipalensis) and some other rare species, like Garganey (Spatula querquedula) and Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea), and we are only halfway through the year, with the fall migration just beginning. The surprises continued yesterday, July 20th, when a new birder made a remarkable discovery. Michael St. John was exploring a private marsh in the north of St. Lucy parish when he spotted and photographed a strange raptor that turned out to be a young Mississippi Kite (Ictinia mississippiensis). He said the bird stayed in the area for hours, diving and catching prey.

Mississippi Kites are small birds of prey, measuring 12 to 15 inches (30–37 cm) and having a wingspan of about 3 feet (91 cm). Young ones have brownish feathers with a striped tail. They nest mostly in the central and southern U.S., especially along the Mississippi River and the Great Plains, but they travel in large groups to South America during the fall.

We don’t know how this bird got here, but we do hope it sticks around for a while.