Snail kites are interesting birds as well as being exhilerating to watch as they soar and circle above the lagoon and then dive to the surface to pluck out aquatic snails, before taking them to a handy landing spot to extract and devour. In this particular case at least, because for various reasons the waters of much of Laguna Bacalar are lacking in nutrients and thus not particularly rich in fish or other other animal species, the kites seem to subsist entirely on the snails. That means they have to be constantly hunting or them throughout the day.