Date: 10/26/24 12:40 pm From: ChicoBill via groups.io <w.e.haas2...> Subject: Re: [slocobirding] Drone Harrassing White-tailed Kites at Meadow Park
The good and sad news about White-tailed Kites:
1. Good news: 100+ is an awesome winter roost number of this fearless raptor (see below). This is near the upper limit as current era White-tailed Kite winter roosts go.
2. Sad news: Between 1970 and 2015, White-tailed Kite numbers declined by 34% in the continental USA.
3. Good news: Populations are (slowly) recovering, especially where marshlands and grasslands are being preserved and restored.
4. More good news: The White-tailed Kite's RANGE has expanded greatly since the 1960s.
5. Sad AND good news: Groups of 100 are less common nowadays than historically (sad) and 1) some kites do not join winter community groups and thus can be seen individually, paired, and/or as small family groups in winter (note that young-of-the-year are welcomed and not expelled from these groups), and 2) groups that number in the 10s, 20s, or 30s are currently more common through much of the state (which is good, I guess).
6. No news, just the facts: Broadly local individuals, pairs, and families of White-tailed Kites roost communally during late fall through late winter/early spring. This is not a true migratory event but may play out as a variation on the theme; that is, it may result in a series of short-distance migrations through the non-breeding months. The species is a rodent specialist and has, as its primary prey, day-active rodents such as marsh and grassland-dwelling voles (in our Central Coast area, the California vole, Microtus californicus ) and to a lesser extent harvest mice (in our area, the western harvest mouse, Reithrodontomys megalotis ). As one might imagine, large groups of rodent predators can deplete a local food resource relatively quickly, which, when depleted, results in the communal group moving onto a different resource area. It's thought that the communal roosting behavior supports this model by allowing individuals to (search for and) share resource locations, which may initiate a search for a closer-to-resource roost site.
7. Sad news: The species' status as a "fully protected species" (FPS) was broad initially but is currently less so. Pre-dating the Endangered Species Act of 1973, it was our state's attempt to protect species that were rare or faced possible extinction. The classification originally made it a crime to (and thus prohibited for any reason the) "take" (= killing) or possession of an FPS. It did NOT, however, address "harassment" or "harm" as state and federal ESAs address. Due to permitting difficulties, especially for solar and wind farms, and their propensity to "take" (= kill) Golden Eagles (another of our "FPS"), where initially NO permit could be issued for the take of the species, recent legislation established a process by which "take" (= killing) could occur with "appropriate" mitigation (no comment).
8. More sad news: Odd decision-making processes render the White-tailed Kite "fully protected" yet it is NOT listed as endangered, threatened, or given the CA state status as a "species of special concern". It IS, though, currently considered a "special animal", but only by virtue of its FPS status and is entitled only to the specific protections the moniker provides (which are not many).
TMI? Well, (sorry, but hopefully this is helpful to someone), the sad news is that THERE IS NO REGULATORY penalty specified for harassment of or harm to much less take or possession of an FPS!
9. Kind of good news, but not really: And yes, there are some protections afforded by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, but federal and state agents currently have so much on their plates (and they are so few in number) that reporting infractions without specific evidence (e.g., a photograph of the perpetrator) has limited value.
My suggestion? Local conservation groups, concerned residents, and especially the local "birding" community should urge, either at the city or county level, the protection not only of nesting raptors but also of their winter roosts - something akin to an oak (tree) ordinance. It would be much easier, then, to have a local, more timely response to such incidents.
--
Bill Haas
Paso Robles
