Rat Snake Overpowers Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus

Predators of the Swallow-Tailed Kite in Southern Louisiana and Mississippi

“…Although we reported age-specific depredation, some predators probably depredate additional ages of kites. Rat snakes may be capable of killing large nestlings and adults (see Williams 1951). Raccoons have killed incubating adult Mississippi Kites (Parker 1999) and might also kill adult Swallowtailed Kites.…”