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All About Swallow-tailed Kites

Swallow Tailed Kite Not Flying!
Andrew West-The News Press
Swallow Tailed Kite Not Flying!

A few weeks ago News Press Storyteller and WGCU essayist Amy Bennett Williams wrote a short piece called Where are the Swallow-tailed Kites? It was, in part, a response to a Facebook post from WGCU’s own John Davis about how he looks forward to his first sighting of the year of the soaring, seemingly elusive birds. Well, we’re going to extend that effort today with a conversation about the birds of prey with a man who has studied them for years. Dr. Ken Meyer is executive director at the Avian Research and Conservation Institute. 

He’s has twice received a Partners in Flight National Research Award for studying the conservation biology of species at risk, and also a National Wildlife Stewardship Award from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative for studies of swallow-tailed kites. This Friday, April 13th, Dr. Meyer will be presenting two free programs, both titled “Swallow-tailed Kites: 10,000 Miles to Survival” ...one at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m….it’s the final presentation of the  2018 “Ding” Darling Lecture Series at J.N. “Ding’ Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island.

Copyright 2018 WGCU

Julie Glenn is the host of Gulf Coast Live. She has been working in southwest Florida as a freelance writer since 2007, most recently as a regular columnist for the Naples Daily News. She began her broadcasting career in 1993 as a reporter/anchor/producer for a local CBS affiliate in Quincy, Illinois. After also working for the NBC affiliate, she decided to move to Parma, Italy where she earned her Master’s degree in communication from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Her undergraduate degree in Mass Communication is from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Mike Kiniry is producer of Gulf Coast Live, and co-creator and host of the WGCU podcast Three Song Stories: Biography Through Music. He first joined the WGCU team in the summer of 2003 as an intern while studying Communication at Florida Gulf Coast University.
RachelIacovoneis a reporter and associate producer ofGulf Coast LiveforWGCU News. Rachel came toWGCU as an intern in 2016, during the presidential race. She went on to cover Florida Gulf Coast University students at President Donald Trump's inauguration on Capitol Hill and Southwest Floridians in attendance at the following day's Women's March on Washington.