States
North CarolinaTennesseeGeorgiaSouth CarolinaKentuckyAlabamaArkansasFloridaLouisianaMississippiVirginiaWest Virginia
Menu

Bird

Mississippi Kite

Ictinia mississippiensis

A summer resident that nests in Alabama. Found in 45 of 67 counties, across 10 habitats.

Here
Summer
Nesting
Nests here
Range
45 of 67 counties
Habitats
10

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
Summer
Nesting
Nests here
Range
45 of 67 counties
Habitats
10
Habitat models
Summer

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Alabama 10

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

1 of 10

Swamps

Loblolly bay in a coastal swamp
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 SwampRegional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal swamps, Florida to Virginia; state not identified, a neighboring state.Loblolly bay in a coastal swamp, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. 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

Pine flatwoods

Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.

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 Flatwoods

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Forest edges and thickets

Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields
SummerBeside its main habitat.Disturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub RegenerationNamed place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Georgia pond and emergent wetland
SummerBeside its main habitat.Open Water (Fresh)Regional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. 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.

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.

  • Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
  • Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Summer.
  • Recently Logged Areas Summer, beside its main habitat.
  • Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer, beside its main habitat.
  • 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.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub 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.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer.
  • Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer.
  • Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
  • Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer.
  • Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer.
  • Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer.
  • Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
  • Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer.
  • Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
  • Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
  • Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer.
  • Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.

All habitats

Seasons in Alabama

  • Summer: nests here, in 45 of 67 counties.

Also found in this habitat

Plants 736

Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food.

Wildlife 251

Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Alabama. Not sighting records.

NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources