Bird

Swallow-tailed Kite

Elanoides forficatus

A summer resident that nests in Florida. Found in all 67 counties, across 17 habitats.

Here: Summer
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 17

Adult Swallow-tailed Kite, whole bird — **Adult**. (c) Dr. Andrew G. Cannizzaro, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 35402456. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Summer
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 17
Habitat models: Summer

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Florida 17

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

1 of 17

SummerUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland; Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland; East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland; Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal WetlandGeorge Catlin, White Sand Bluffs, on Santa Rosa Island, Near Pensacola (1834-35): high white dunes with scattered clumps of dune plants above the Gulf. Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola, FloridaWhite Sand Bluffs, on Santa Rosa Island, Near Pensacola, George Catlin (1796-1872), 1834-1835. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouth Florida Hardwood Hammock; Southern Coastal Plain Hydric HammockWinslow Homer, In the Jungle, Florida (1904): cabbage palms, saw palmetto and fallen trunks in a dense, shady hammock, with a wildcat in the branches. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Florida (Winslow Homer, In the Jungle, Florida, 1904)*In the Jungle, Florida*, Winslow Homer, 1904. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouthern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier; South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh; Floridian Highlands Freshwater MarshMartin Johnson Heade, The Great Florida Marsh (1886): open marsh and lily-dotted water beneath live oaks and cabbage palms. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Florida (Heade, The Great Florida Marsh, 1886; North Carolina Museum of Art)*The Great Florida Marsh*, Martin Johnson Heade, 1886. Public domain. Source record.

SummerEast Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier; East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier; South Florida Pine Flatwoods; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods; Central Florida 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.

SummerEast Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsGeorge Catlin, Beautiful Savannah in the Pine Woods of Florida (1834-35): an open grassy savanna with a shallow pond, ringed by tall pines, with palmettos and red wildflowers. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Pine woods of Florida (George Catlin, 1834-35; Smithsonian American Art Museum)*Beautiful Savannah in the Pine Woods of Florida*, George Catlin, 1834-1835. 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; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; South Florida Bayhead Swamp; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp; South Florida Cypress Dome; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress DomeFlorida, Sunset on the Ocklawaha (1899): a dark swamp-lined river at sunset, with cypress and hardwoods crowding both banks. Ocklawaha River, FloridaFlorida, Sunset on the Ocklawaha, Detroit Photographic Co. (chromolithograph), 1899. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal Plain seepage bogs

Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.

SummerSouthern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

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.

Summer

Floodplain and bottomland forests

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

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest; Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

SummerFlorida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Mangrove swamps

Tidal forests and thickets of red, black and white mangrove along sheltered tropical and subtropical shores.

Summer

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh; Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh

Forest edges and thickets

Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.

SummerOnly within 500 m of water.Disturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub Regeneration

Prairies and grasslands

Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.

SummerOnly within 500 m of water.Florida Dry Prairie

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

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

SummerOnly within 500 m of water.Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Ruderal Upland - Old Field

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

SummerOnly within 500 m of water.Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier

Other habitats in its models (45)

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

In Florida 5

Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer, only within 500 m of water.
Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer.
South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer.
South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer.
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer.

Elsewhere in the South (8)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer, only within 500 m of water.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.

Northeast (1)

Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Summer.

Land cover and other classes (31)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer, only within 500 m of water.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer, only within 500 m of water.
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.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Summer, only within 500 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer, only within 500 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer, only within 500 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer, only within 500 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer, only within 500 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer, only within 500 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Summer, only within 500 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer, only within 500 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Summer, only within 500 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer.
Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer, only within 500 m of water.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer, only within 500 m of water.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer, only within 500 m of water.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer, only within 500 m of water.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Summer, only within 500 m of water.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer.
Recently Burned Summer, only within 500 m of water.
Recently Burned Forest Summer, only within 500 m of water.
Recently Burned Grassland Summer, only within 500 m of water.
Recently Burned Shrubland Summer, only within 500 m of water.
Recently Logged Areas Summer, only within 500 m of water.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer.
Unconsolidated Shore Summer.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer.

All habitats

Seasons in Florida

Summer: nests here, in all 67 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Florida, 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.

Swallow-tailed Kite uses many habitats in Florida; these are its 3 most characteristic.