While wistfully watching the sky, I spotted a sleek, pewter-colored flying object moving swiftly and directly like a military drone.

No drone. Instead, it was a Mississippi kite on a mission, whether to find prey, migrate south, or both. I suspect the bird was nesting in my densely wooded community because Id noticed it several times this summer.

The kite was probably hunting for such prey as grasshoppers and katydids along the edges of a nearby golf course. Or maybe it was about to barnstorm treetops to snatchcicadas.

Hundreds of Mississippi kites will soon be flying in neat squadrons over all our neighborhoods. Theyll be on a migratory journey from breeding grounds in the southern Great Plains and the southern tier of the United States as they join up with local breeding birds. Their winter destination will be the tropical and subtropical regions of South America.

The kites buoyant flight is propelled by a dark-toned three-foot wingspan and crooked back like that of a falcon. A narrow, black tail notched at the tip fans out and torques, like an aerial rudder, to guide rapid maneuvers.

With their 17-inch rocket-shaped gray bodies and pearly-white heads, the birds appear powerful yet elegant. A black face mask encircles piercing red eyes. The bird has yellow-red legs.

Mississippi Kites are social birds that breed, forage, and roost in small colonies.

Strongly monogamous breeding pairs protect their mates from sexual interlopers.

They nest in trees among forests, farming communities, and suburban or urban neighborhoods. Their once large breeding population in East Texas bottomland forests was extirpated by 1914 due to logging and hunting.

Circling flocks of Mississippi kites called kettles may number several hundred or more than a thousand.

They utter quick, high-pitched, two-syllable whistles sounding like the words pheee-phew.

When flying at treetop level, kites will barely pause as they extend their talons to snatch up tree-dwelling insects. Theyll also glide over meadows, yards and golf courses to grab rodents, toads and snakes. Their snake diet earned them the nickname blue snake hawk.

Mississippi kites migrate unhurriedly, sailing over office buildings, homes, sidewalks and walking trails. Theyll sometimes spend several days in local neighborhoods foraging for food.

Come eventide, flocks of the kites will put on an eye-popping show as they spiral down to roost in trees.

The birds were named for the state where naturalists collected the first specimen in 1803. The kite name comes from an Old English word cyta, describing the screaming call of hawks not their fluttering in mid-air.

Gary Clark is the author of Book of Texas Birds with photos by Kathy Adams Clark (Texas A&M University Press). Email him at Texasbirder@comcast.net.

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Mississippi kites fly with precision over all our neighborhoods - Houston Chronicle