Date: 9/11/26 9:28 pm From: ireddy via groups.io <ireddy...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] White-tailed Kites Roost in Pleasanton
Hello birders,
Following up Dominik Mosur's message from sept 8 and Patricia Bacchetti who kindly shared this article on the roost in Sacramento https://journal.cvbirds.org/index.php/cvb/article/view/514/814 I feel I should share some updates about the very big White-tailed Kites roost I discovered in my neighborhood in Pleasanton on August 28 and that I have been observing since then.
I have been in contact with Ed Pandolfino (co-author of the article above) and Jeffrey Dunk (author of the White-tailed Kite entry for Birds of the World) as soon as I realized that this roost was massive and that there wasn't a ton of information about them. Ed and Jeffrey are both the co-authors of the soon to be released new version of the BOW entry and are very interested in the information we can find at this roost.
I try to count the number of birds who arrive at the roost each night. Since I started, the roost has changed place and the numbers fluctuate. It was first on Woodthrush Way, but then moved to Crestline Street and is now spreading to Willowren and probably further West to what I gather. Their numbers are often in the hundred or more (138 tonight) but it is hard to know if all the birds are accounted for.
I also try to record the directions they are coming from or leaving to. I also take notes of what they are doing, their use of trees - especially the tall pointy ones where the first comers perch (cypress/pine/redwoods). It would be interesting to know the proportion of juveniles/adults but it is very hard to tell because of the low light.
Their arrival time is shifting earlier every day - now before 7pm and all is quiet by 7:45pm. In the morning, they always leave a minute after the first crow calls around 6:20am. At this roost, they take more time to leave than the 3-5 minutes mentioned in the above article and they seem to first depart much later. I experimented coming earlier, at 5:10am but nothing happened until 6:20am. The mystery, though, is that I count less birds in the morning as compared to the evening.
For those of you who want to experience this roost and gather information on it, ebird if a good place to record it. I am putting all of my notes here https://ebird.org/atlascalifornia/hotspot/L76641473/activity?yr=all&m= And of course, as Dominik mentioned, if you come, be mindful of the residents, the kites are very much in the trees that border their houses (in their frontwards or backyards).
If any of you has observed a roost before and wants to share info with me of what they saw, where it was located, its size, when they saw it... I would love to know. I find it all very interesting.
Enjoy the birds, they give us so many opportunities to learn!
