Mississippi Kites

Mississippi Kites are a speciality of southeast Colorado where they breed from the city of Pueblo east to at least Lamar and also south of there in the canyons near New Mexico. I photographed this bird roosting in a residential area of the town of Las Animas yesterday.

With temps in the mid-nineties, this bird's beak was open in the pic because it was panting to keep cool (since birds don't have sweat glands, they keep cool by panting, increasing the flow of blood to the skin of the legs and feet, and resting when it's hot).

Read more about this species here

SeEtta