Fall bird migration is in full swing, and that means we can get some rarely seen birds in the area. Most recently, a swallow-tailed kite has been spotted in and around Hadley Valley. 

A photo of the swallow-tailed kite was posted to the District's Will County Wildlife group on Facebook on Monday by Kara Senders Morales of Joliet. According to eBird maps, this bird has never before been reported in Will County.

Swallow-tailed kites spend the summers in the southeastern United States, primarily in Florida, then migrate south to South America for the winter. These raptors have been described as "the coolest bird on the planet," and they are easy to identify due to their bold black-and-white plumage.

When in flight, they will continually flick and rotate their tails and can switch from flying straight to a tight turn while scanning for prey. Swallow-tailed kites also can roll and dive backward to catch an insect that's behind it. 

While they mostly eat flying insects, they also will grab tree frogs, snakes and nestling birds. They can also eat stinging insects, which they are able to do because they have thicker stomachs than other raptors. 

Swallow-tailed kites spend most of their time in flight, which can make them easier to spot. 

10-day chase

Morales, who is a member of the Will County Audubon Society, said this is not the first time she has tracked rare birds to get photos, but in the case of the swallow-tailed kite, it was truly a group effort involving birders from all over northern Illinois. She first heard reports of the kite on the morning of Aug. 23 when it was spotted flying over Hadley Valley and someone posted information to a Will County birding site.

Morales lives only 10 minutes from Hadley Valley so she, along with other birders in the region, headed to the preserve to see if they could spot the kite. But it was nowhere to be found. There were a few more sightings posted to the eBird website and more searches with no luck, but finally on the Labor Day holiday weekend there was one more sighting. This time the kite stayed put, so Morales was able to view and photograph the bird, along with around 15 other birders, as it circled an open field near Bruce Road and Interstate 355. 

"A lot of us were meeting for the first time, getting to finally put faces to names that we see all the time on the multiple birding platforms we use," Morales said. "Everyone was just on cloud nine. And as frustrating as it was to have chased this bird for 10 days, it made finally relocating it and all of us sharing in this moment together almost ... magical. I really can't describe the energy there any other way. I've chased rare birds many times before, but this swallow-tailed kite and the whole timeline is unlike anything I have every experienced." 

Other rare birds that have been spotted in the Will County area include a cinnamon teal, great kiskadee, painted bunting, red-throated loon and black-legged kittiwake, to name a few. Birds can make their way far outside of their range for a variety of reasons. They can be thrown off course by weather, or they may be first-year birds that have migrated in the wrong direction. 

So if you're out and about in the coming weeks, whether it's in a forest preserve or anywhere else, keep your eyes peeled, because you never know what surprises you may find.