Bird

Mississippi Kite

Ictinia mississippiensis

A summer resident that nests in Louisiana. Found in all 64 parishes, across 10 habitats.

Here: Summer and on migration
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 64 parishes
Habitats: 10

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 and on migration
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 64 parishes
Habitats: 10
Habitat models: Summer

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Louisiana 10

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

1 of 10

SummerSouthern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp; Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Swamp Systems; West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp; Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier; Mississippi River Bottomland DepressionJoseph Rusling Meeker, The Land of Evangeline (1874): moss-hung trees over a still bayou in Louisiana swamp forest. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Louisiana bayou country (Meeker, The Land of Evangeline, 1874)*The Land of Evangeline*, Joseph Rusling Meeker, 1874. Public domain. Source record.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

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

SummerMississippi River Riparian Forest; Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest; Red River Large Floodplain Forest; Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest

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; Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods; West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods

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; West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods; East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

SummerWest Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods

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; West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall

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

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.

SummerBeside its main habitat.Open Water (Fresh)

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 (49)

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

Elsewhere in the South (19)

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.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain Summer.
South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Summer.
South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian Summer.
Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer.
Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.

Northeast (1)

Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer.

Land cover and other classes (29)

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.
Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems Summer.
Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems Summer.
Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - 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.
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.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer.
Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression Swamp Summer.

All habitats

Seasons in Louisiana

Migratory: does not nest here, in 23 of 64 parishes.
Summer: nests here, in 58 of 64 parishes.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Louisiana, 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.