Floating on air currents over rural countryside and open city spaces, the Mississippi Kite presents a familiar sight to many people across the southern United States, although this graceful hawk is not well known by name. This engaging natural history, illustrated with superb color photographs, provides all a bird watcher needs to become acquainted with the kite, its life cycle, and its fascinating history with humans.Under various folk names, including Blue Darter, Grasshopper Hawk, and Mosquito Hawk, the Mississippi Kite ranges throughout the southern United States from the coasts of the Carolinas to the plains of the Southwest. The authors describe all aspects of the kite' life cycle, from breeding and nesting, raising young, and hunting and feeding to the kite' annual winter migration to South America. They also trace its intriguing relationship with humans, from its discovery by Europeans in the nineteenth century to the present day.For bird lovers and ornithologists alike, The Mississippi Kite will be an essential introduction to a bird well worth knowing. A special section on conservation and a selection of references for further reading complement the text.

Eric G. Bolen is dean of the graduate school and a professor of biology at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.