Austin’s Kite Festival, held annually in March, should perhaps be moved to August. Why? Right now massive flocks of Mississippi kites are passing through Austin on the way to their wintering grounds in South America.

In all seriousness, though, the sight of 50 to 75 kites swirling last evening through our backyard and roosting in the tops of the live oaks awed me. It was lucky we saw them. My husband and I were sitting on the couch, facing the glass doors overlooking the deck. Movement outside caught our attention at the same time, and we stood up to see what was happening. Dozens and dozens of large, dark-winged birds were circling over the deck and swimming pool. Completely silent. As we watched, they settled into the trees to rest.

Are those…? we turned to each other to ask. For the past several weeks we’ve observed raptors with pointed wings soaring on thermals high above our pool, and occasionally swooping down to treetop level to pick off a large dragonfly (those frequently circle above the pool too). We thought they might be kites but didn’t feel confident of the ID.

But last evening we were surrounded by these elegant gray birds with hooked beaks. Definitely raptors of some sort, but what bird of prey flocks in such large numbers? I grabbed my camera, posted pics on my Facebook page, and got instant confirmation from knowledgeable birding friends that these are Mississippi kites. I also learned that they are passing through Austin right now in huge numbers on their way to South America, where they’ll spend the winter. What’s more, thousands — millions? — of other migrating birds are flying south through Texas right now and in coming weeks. We’re a stopover on the avian migration path!

The kites didn’t stick around long, and some skittishly flew out of the trees when our back door accidentally slammed. But others stayed long enough for me to photograph — and to wow us both with their numbers, their size, and their beauty. I feel lucky to have seen them and glad we had the rest stop they were looking for.

By the way, did you know that migrating birds often travel at night and navigate by starlight or moonlight, and the artificial lights of cities can disorient them on their journey? Audubon’s Lights Out initiative asks Americans to help by turning off exterior lights between 11 pm and 6 am during migration season. Several Texas counties, including Austin’s Travis County, are participating. You can help by turning off exterior lights, especially floodlights and uplighting, during the overnight hours through November 30th. Building managers too can play a huge part by turning off lights on the upper floors of office buildings or closing blinds overnight.

Lights out, y’all, and godspeed to the birds!

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Digging Deeper

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