• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	3,710,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	1,080,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	540000-880000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2020
Population trend	increasing	-	estimated	-
Generation length	5.13 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population has been estimated at 700,000 mature individuals (Partners in Flight 2020). In North America (USA and Canada), the total population size is estimated at 700,000 mature individuals (Partners in Flight 2020). The species' population in North America (USA and Canada) is estimated to have a slightly positive annual trend, which equates to a rapid increase in population size over three generations (15.39 years) (Partners in Flight 2024). As this region holds the vast majority of the species' global range, the global population size is considered to be increasing at a rapid rate over three generations.

Trend justification: This species has undergone a small or statistically insignificant increase over the last 40 years in North America (data from Breeding Bird Survey and/or Christmas Bird Count: Butcher and Niven 2007).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Argentina	extant	native
Belize	extant	native			yes	yes
Bermuda (to UK)	extant	vagrant
Bolivia	extant	native
Brazil	extant	native
Canada	extant	vagrant
Colombia	extant	native
Costa Rica	extant	native			yes
Cuba	extant	vagrant
Ecuador	extant	vagrant
El Salvador	extant	native
Guatemala	extant	native
Honduras	extant	native
Jamaica	extant	native				yes
Mexico	extant	native
Nicaragua	extant	native
Panama	extant	native
Paraguay	extant	native
Peru	extant	native
USA	extant	native		yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	breeding
Forest	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Altitude	0 - 3070 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Mississippi Kite Ictinia mississippiensis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/mississippi-kite-ictinia-mississippiensis on 25/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 25/11/2024.