Mississippi Kites mating

This morning I was priviledged to observe a pair of Mississippi Kites copulating. These kites engage with each other for a much longer time than do many other bird species that put meaning to the phrase "quickie." These kites were involve in copulation for about 30-60 seconds while I have seen some birds spend less than 5 seconds engaged in this activity. This photo is actually of a pair I observed last summer as I couldn't get my car turned around fast enough today to get a photo of them.
SeEtta