Swallow-tailed Kites 
201 
1985, the species is a Category 2 candidate for federal listing as a 
threatened or endangered species (United States Fish and Wildlife 
Service 1985). 
Whether our observations and collections represent another 
roosting area for pre-migration staging or simply a gathering of 
local post-nesting birds is unknown. No mention of molt is made 
in the summer roosting flocks reported to date (Millsap 1987, Millsap 
and Runde 1988). Because of this and the general lack of young 
birds in our study area in early July, we theorize that after the 
nesting season (mid-March through late June) local adult birds gather 
in small flocks, forage, build up pre-migratory subcutaneous fat re- 
serves, and complete their flight feather molt (July). They undergo 
short distance movements (late June and August with a peak in 
early July) to larger communal summer roosts that are adjacent to 
extensive foraging areas. The appearance of numbers of birds at 
communal roosts in early to late July may represent immature birds 
that do not undergo molt. The subsequent build up in early August 
would then result from adults coming to the roost after molt was 
completed. From mid-August to early September, the kites depart 
for wintering grounds in South America (Brown and Amadon 1968, 
Robertson 1988); the south Florida birds take a trans-Caribbean or 
trans-Gulf migration route (Millsap 1987). 
CONCLUSION 
The American swallow-tailed kite is currently regarded as a 
“Category 2” species under the Endangered Species Act, mean- 
ing that not enough is known about its status to list it as Threat- 
ened or Endangered. There is documentation showing an overall 
decline in the breeding range during the historical period, but in 
most regions this documentation is less than adequate. Further- 
more, the generalized diet and the fact that the kite feeds low on 
the food chain combined with the nonspecific habitat require- 
ments confound efforts to determine reasons for the decline. Its 
disappearance from northern nesting sites was long before per- 
sistent pesticides were introduced in the environment. Over-collect- 
ing of eggs and shooting of adult birds has often been cited as the 
primary reason for the disappearance of the species from portions 
of its breeding range, but there is no evidence that this is the case. 
Our documentation of the molt period of adults will allow 
field workers who monitor summer populations to obtain much 
needed information on age ratios and post-breeding movements of 
different age classes. This information should prove useful in deter- 
mining the conservation status of this kite. 
