With her binoculars and checklist in hand, Madison Lutes was excited to go birding with colleagues in the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary backcountry. As a first-time participant in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, the conservation assistant delighted in this opportunity to see and learn about new birds while tallying the numbers for science. She didn’t expect to see a federally endangered Snail Kite that day, but upon viewing her photos, she was even more excited to see that the bird wore a leg band. In recent years, Snail Kites have become more visible in backcountry areas of the Sanctuary, but their presence here is tenuous.
Florida is the only state with Snail Kites, and their population has faced numerous threats since the mid-20th century. These birds historically bred mainly in wetlands from the Kissimmee Valley through the Everglades, but their population declined significantly through the early 2000s. The irregular water level patterns brought on by flood control efforts wreaked havoc on wetland plants and the kites’ namesake food, apple snails.
While Everglades restoration improves conditions for Snail Kites, they are on the move. Following the arrival of nonnative apple snails, which can tolerate more extreme water conditions than the native species, the birds have begun breeding in new areas. Snail Kites are now successfully nesting throughout peninsular Florida.
Since December, Audubon staff have seen Snail Kites in the Sanctuary several times. In March, photos from a sighting revealed a bird that was not only banded but was wearing a tiny transmitter!
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary’s Director of Conservation Shawn Clem, PhD, reached out to researchers with the University of Florida and Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to find out more about the bird. They confirmed it was part of a study to understand movement and survival.
“I tagged the bird as a fledgling at Moonshine Bay/Lake Okeechobee on April 30, 2024. It’s still transmitting and has spent a lot of time in the Corkscrew Swamp area and in some swamps next to urban areas along Corkscrew Road,” says FWC’s Caroline Poli, PhD. “The plumage is starting to suggest it’s a female, but it’s still a little too young to say for sure,” she added.
Judging by the tracks from the backpack, this bird seems to be finding plenty of food in the area. However, concerns remain that a return of kite nesting to some of their historic range is not occurring, despite continued restoration efforts in South Florida.
Water levels continue to affect the availability of both food and nesting habitat for these majestic birds. While severe water level fluctuations will be improved by new water storage areas across the Everglades, increased temperatures associated with our changing climate, combined with water loss or evapotranspiration, are causing more frequent and severe low-water events across Snail Kites’ historic range. While the nonnative apple snails have been sustaining kites, native snail population levels remain low for unknown reasons.
Audubon is restoring thousands of acres of wetlands, including those right here at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. While the future of Snail Kites in South Florida is uncertain, the birds are resilient. Through their movements and behavior, these birds are telling us that they can adapt to new locations. With luck and more wetland restoration projects in store for our area, we are hopeful these graceful raptors will continue to make their homes in Southwest Florida.
