
When searching for its next meal, a white-tailed kite will hover up to 80 feet above an open area, rapidly beating its wings and facing into the wind, pausing in mid-air almost as if it were attached to a string. Once its prey has been spotted, the white-tailed kite will dive down to try and capture the animal in its talons. The white-tailed kite’s hunting style is so distinctive that it has become known as “kiting.” This raptor species mainly eats small mammals, but has been known to eat birds, lizards, and insects on occasion.