Chickens attacked by Mississippi Kite

[FattySmough]

I am honestly pretty surprised by this one. My chickens were making a ruckus, so I checked outside and saw a Mississippi Kite swooping down on one of my chickens, and it promptly flew away as soon as it saw me. I found some information about them and it turns out their average adult weight is 9.4 ounces. They mainly eat bugs and occasionally small birds and reptiles, but most certainly not chickens. Even my smallest chickens are 14 weeks old.

As expected, no one was hurt in the slightest. Just spooked. Has anyone else ever had something like this happen? I'm just baffled that such a small predator would attack one of my birds.

 

[BlueBaby]

Would it have had a nest nearby that it thought that it was protecting?

 

[SilverBirds]

There have been an abnormal amount of kites this year. One killed my 4 week old bantam chick. Other then that we haven't had any more instances with them. I do see them flying around quite frequently.

 

[FattySmough]

Would it have had a nest nearby that it thought that it was protecting?

Maybe it has a nest, but I'm not sure.

 

[FattySmough]

There have been an abnormal amount of kites this year. One killed my 4 week old bantam chick. Other then that we haven't had any more instances with them. I do see them flying around quite frequently.

So it's not just me who's seen a crazy amount of them. I swear I see at least one of them in the air almost every time I look at the sky.

 

[SilverBirds]

So it's not just me who's seen a crazy amount of them. I swear I see at least one of them in the air almost every time I look at the sky.

Last year is when I first saw them in my area. I occasionally say two flying around the property but not very often. This year there was a crazy amount. April-July I was seeing around 6-10 at a time at least 3 times a week. At one pointed I counted 18 in the sky. The colony was nesting around the pond across the road (where dense forest meets about 3 acres of field). Now I'm only seeing 1-2 every week or so.

 

[FattySmough]

Last year is when I first saw them in my area. I occasionally say two flying around the property but not very often. This year there was a crazy amount. April-July I was seeing around 6-10 at a time at least 3 times a week. At one pointed I counted 18 in the sky. The colony was nesting around the pond across the road (where dense forest meets about 3 acres of field). Now I'm only seeing 1-2 every week or so.

Wow! that's incredible. Hopefully I'll be seeing less of them too. Even if they're harmless my chickens are terrified of them.

 

[Kimberley P]

I am honestly pretty surprised by this one. My chickens were making a ruckus, so I checked outside and saw a Mississippi Kite swooping down on one of my chickens, and it promptly flew away as soon as it saw me. I found some information about them and it turns out their average adult weight is 9.4 ounces. They mainly eat bugs and occasionally small birds and reptiles, but most certainly not chickens. Even my smallest chickens are 14 weeks old.

As expected, no one was hurt in the slightest. Just spooked. Has anyone else ever had something like this happen? I'm just baffled that such a small predator would attack one of my birds.

I've recently lost two chickens, one disappeared without a trace, and one was headless in my yard. I took a picture of a "hawk" but someone identified it as a Mississippi Kite. I picture was from the same morning and just above where I found Freckles later that morning.

 

[Jbirdmom]

I am honestly pretty surprised by this one. My chickens were making a ruckus, so I checked outside and saw a Mississippi Kite swooping down on one of my chickens, and it promptly flew away as soon as it saw me. I found some information about them and it turns out their average adult weight is 9.4 ounces. They mainly eat bugs and occasionally small birds and reptiles, but most certainly not chickens. Even my smallest chickens are 14 weeks old.

As expected, no one was hurt in the slightest. Just spooked. Has anyone else ever had something like this happen? I'm just baffled that such a small predator would attack one of my birds.

I have never seen/heard MK’s in our area (Central Texas) and I’ve lived here over 20 years. We have in the past couple of weeks acquired what I think is a nesting pair. We live in the city and have full grown hens and 15 week hens who free range during the day on our .5 ac under loose supervision (hub and I mostly WFH). They definitely are swooping around and disrupting the peace but no attempts on the ladies. But it’s totally new so I researched and got same answer— raptor but interested in smaller prey. I watching though.