Two Kites in mid air ritual, dance, or battle.
I witnessed a most unusual event on October 2, 2018, at Drakes Bay in the Point Reyes National Park; two Kites were engaged in a mid air ritual or dance. I have been looking up this behavior to see what this was all about. It is a mating ritual, or is it territorial battling? I new it was something special and I shot over 114 frames in 64 seconds. (As I looked at my time stamping on my frames.) If any one knows more about this behavior I'd love to hear about it, please send me an email or comment on this Blog. The pair made three attempts or passes in high directly above my car. I didn't have time to get out, I stuck my camera out the window and followed them for an intense 60 seconds while they made three attempts to connect. There are YouTube videos on Bald Eagle engaged in a behavior where they grab each other talons and go into a "death spiral" holding on to each other as they spin towards the ground. I also found a Wikipedia article kite breeding that described this as a mating behavior. The kites may have been practicing as mated pairs the male will hand off food mid-flight to his partner who is busy with the nest, or clutch.
