Bird

Mississippi Kite

Ictinia mississippiensis

A summer resident that nests in Alabama. Found in 45 of 67 counties, across 11 habitats.

Here: Summer
Nesting: Nests here
Range: 45 of 67 counties
Habitats: 11

Adult Mississippi Kite, whole bird — **Adult**. no rights reserved. CC0. iNaturalist photo 310243862. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Summer
Nesting: Nests here
Range: 45 of 67 counties
Habitats: 11
Habitat models: Summer

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Alabama 11

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 11

SummerEast Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier; East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier; East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine FlatwoodsGeorge Inness, Georgia Pines (1890): tall, straight pines over an open, grassy floor in a south Georgia pine woods. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Georgia pine woods (George Inness, 1890; site not named), a neighboring state.Georgia Pines, George Inness (1825-1894), 1890. Public domain. Source record.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianWinslow Homer, Blue Spring, Florida (1890): clear blue spring water under overhanging palms. Shown: Blue Spring, Florida (Winslow Homer, 1890; National Gallery of Art), a neighboring state.Blue Spring, Florida, Winslow Homer, 1890. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouthern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier; Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp; Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Swamp Systems; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampFlorida, Sunset on the Ocklawaha (1899): a dark swamp-lined river at sunset, with cypress and hardwoods crowding both banks. Shown: Ocklawaha River, Florida, a neighboring state.Florida, Sunset on the Ocklawaha, Detroit Photographic Co. (chromolithograph), 1899. Public domain. Source record.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

SummerEast Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest; Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

SummerEast Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods; South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

SummerSouth-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

SummerSouthern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall

SummerBeside its main habitat.Open Water (Fresh)Martin Johnson Heade, Florida Sunrise: still water and a palm-fringed shore glowing at dawn. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Florida (Heade, Florida Sunrise, c. 1890-1900), a neighboring state.Florida Sunrisetitle QS:P1476,en:"Florida Sunrise"label QS:Len,"Florida Sunrise", Martin Johnson Heade, c. 1890-1900. Public domain. Source record.

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

SummerBeside its main habitat.

Forest edges and thickets

Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.

SummerBeside its main habitat.Disturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub Regeneration

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

SummerBeside its main habitat.Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Ruderal Upland - Old Field

Other habitats in its models (43)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama. Those recorded in Alabama first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (20)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer.
Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer.
Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer.
Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.

Northeast (1)

Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer.

Land cover and other classes (22)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Summer.
Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer.
Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer, beside its main habitat.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer, beside its main habitat.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer, beside its main habitat.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Summer, beside its main habitat.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer.
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
Recently Burned Summer, beside its main habitat.
Recently Burned Forest Summer, beside its main habitat.
Recently Burned Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
Recently Burned Shrubland Summer, beside its main habitat.
Recently Logged Areas Summer, beside its main habitat.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer.

All habitats

Seasons in Alabama

Summer: nests here, in 45 of 67 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Alabama, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.