Species:ย ย Swallow-tailed Kiteย ย Elanoides forficatus
Date of Sighting: 08-23-2012 1:10 PM
County : ADAMS
Location : Reading Township; Intersection of Possum Hollow Road and Route 234, East Berlin
Observer(s): Benjamin Leese
Date of Submission: 8-23-2012
Submitted by: Benjamin Leese
Written Description: YESย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Photo: NOย ย ย ย ย ย ย Specimen: NOย ย ย ย ย ย Recording: NO
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168-03-2012 Swallow-tailed Kite Elanoides forficatus
First Round Votes
10/16/2012 1:12 Dave DeReamus Class III – Sight record documented by one observer. I believe the written documentation is good enough to confirm this distinct bird.
10/7/2012 23:32 Devich Farbotnik Class IV-A – record is probably correct, but not beyond reasonable doubt. I voted for this class because of the description. This sentence made me wonder what he was talking about: “Upper part of body, wings, and head were white to grayish.” Only the upper part of the body was white? That’s assuming it is the underside of the bird he is talking about? The upper part of the wings were white? I find this kind of confusing and unclear. There are only so many options for a raptor of that size with a deeply forked tail but I don’t think the description is good enough for acceptance.
11/6/2012 10:58 Ben Coulter Class III – Sight record documented by one observer.
11/8/2012 21:16 Drew Weber Class III – Sight record documented by one observer. This is a hard call, but is such a distintive species with a matching description from the observer. I vote we accept the record.
11/16/2012 0:28 Mike Lanzone Class III – Sight record documented by one observer.
11/21/2012 16:21 Cameron Rutt Class III – Sight record documented by one observer. Limited details but direct size comparison to TUVU (in actuality, STKI are >75% of a TUVU’s length and wingspan), deeply forked tail, and black and white color patterning (particularly on the upper part of the wings = underwing coverts?) fit STKI. A frigatebird should also be kept in mind, but would lack the white in the underwing coverts and appear much longer (in both length and wingspan) than a TUVU.
11/13/2012 21:44 Mike Fialkovich Class III – Sight record documented by one observer.[/member]
