Red kite
Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Use dmy dates Template:Speciesbox
The red kite (Milvus milvus) is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. The species currently breeds only in Europe, though it formerly also bred in west Asia and northwest Africa.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/><ref name=bwpc/> Historically, it was only resident in the milder parts of its range in western Europe and northwestern Africa, whereas all or most red kites in northern mainland Europe wintered to the south and west, some also reaching western Asia, but an increasing number of northern birds now remain in that region year-round.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/> Vagrants have reached north to Finland and south to Israel, Libya and Gambia.<ref name=bwpc/><ref name=Gambia/>
TaxonomyEdit
The red kite was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Falco milvus.<ref name=Linnaeus1758/> The word milvus was the Latin name for the bird.<ref name=Jobling/> In 1799 the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède moved the species to the genus Milvus creating the tautonym.<ref name=Lacepede/>
Two subspecies are recognised:<ref name=ioc>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- M. m. milvus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Europe and Northwest Africa to the Middle East
- M. m. fasciicauda Hartert, 1914 – the Cape Verde Islands
The subspecies M. m. fasciicauda is almost certainly extinct.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The genus Milvus contains two other species: the black kite (M. migrans) and the yellow-billed kite (M. aegyptius).<ref name=ioc/> The red kite has been known to successfully hybridize with the black kite in captivity where both species were kept together, and in the wild on the Cape Verde Islands and infrequently in other places.<ref name=Hille2000/> The red kites on the Cape Verde Islands are (or rather were) quite distinct in morphology, being somewhat intermediate with black kites. The question whether the Cape Verde kite should be considered a distinct species (Milvus fasciicauda) or a red kite subspecies has not been settled. A mitochondrial DNA study on museum specimens suggested that Cape Verde birds did not form a monophyletic lineage among or next to red kites.<ref name=Johnson/> This interpretation is problematic: mtDNA analysis is susceptible to hybridization events, the evolutionary history of the Cape Verde population is not known, and the genetic relationship of red kites is confusing, with geographical proximity being no indicator of genetic relatedness and the overall genetic similarity high,<ref name=Schreiber2000/> perhaps indicating a relict species. Given the morphological distinctness of the Cape Verde birds and that the Cape Verde population was isolated from other populations of red kites, it cannot be conclusively resolved as to whether the Cape Verde population was not a distinct subspecies (as M. migrans fasciicauda) or even a species that frequently absorbed stragglers from the migrating European populations into its gene pool. The Cape Verde population became effectively extinct since 2000, all surviving birds being hybrids with black kites.<ref name=Johnson/>
The English word "kite" is from the Old English cyta which is of unknown origin. A kite is mentioned by Geoffrey Chaucer in his Knight's Tale. The early 15th century Hengwrt manuscript contains the lines: "Ther cam a kyte, whil þt they were so wrothe That bar awey the boon bitwix hem bothe." The first recorded use of the word kite for the human-operated aerial device dates from the 17th century.<ref>Template:Cite OED</ref>
DescriptionEdit
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Red kites are Template:Convert long<ref name=Campbell2000/> with a Template:Convert wingspan; males weigh Template:Convert, and females Template:Convert.<ref name=bwpc/> It is an elegant bird, soaring on long wings held at a dihedral, and long forked tail, twisting as it changes direction. The body, upper tail and wing coverts are rufous. The white primary flight feathers contrast with the black wing tips and dark secondaries. Apart from the weight difference, the sexes are similar, but juveniles have a buff breast and belly. Its call is a thin piping sound, similar to but less mewling than the common buzzard. There is a rare white leucistic form accounting for approximately 1% of hatchlings in the Welsh population, but this variation confers a disadvantage in the survival stakes.<ref name=whiteredkite/>
Differences between adults and juvenilesEdit
Adults differ from juveniles in a number of characteristics:
- Adults are overall more deeply rufous, compared with the more washed out colour of juveniles;
- Adults have black breast-streaks whereas on juveniles these are pale;
- Juveniles have a less deeply forked tail, with a dark subterminal band;
- Juveniles have pale tips to all of the greater-coverts (secondary and primary) on both the upper- and under-wings, forming a long narrow pale line; adults have pale fringes to upperwing secondary-coverts only.
These differences hold throughout most of the first year of a bird's life.Template:Citation needed
BehaviourEdit
BreedingEdit
Usually red kites first breed when they are two years old, although exceptionally they can successfully breed when they are only one year old.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> They are monogamous and the pair-bond in Template:Birdgloss populations is probably maintained during the winter, particularly when the pair remain on their breeding territory. For migrant populations the fidelity to a particular nesting site means that the pair-bond is likely to be renewed each breeding season.Template:Sfn The nest is normally placed in a fork of a large hardwood tree at a height of between Template:Cvt above the ground. A pair will sometimes use a nest from the previous year and can occasionally occupy an old nest of the common buzzard.Template:Sfn The nest is built by both sexes. The male brings dead twigs Template:Cvt in length which are placed by the female. The nest is lined with grass and sometimes also with sheep's wool. Unlike the black kite, no greenery is added to the nest. Both sexes continue to add material to the nest during the incubation and nestling periods. Nests vary greatly in size and can become large when the same nest is occupied for several seasons.Template:Sfn
The eggs are laid at three-day intervals. The clutch is usually between one and three eggs but four and even five eggs have occasionally been recorded. The eggs are non-glossy with a white ground and red-brown spots. The average size is Template:Cvt with a calculated weight of Template:Cvt.Template:Sfn In Britain and central Europe, laying begins at the end of March but in the Mediterranean area laying begins in early March.Template:Sfn The eggs are mainly incubated by the female, but the male will relieve her for short periods while she feeds. The male will also bring food for the female. Incubation starts as soon as the first egg is laid. Each egg hatches after 31 to 32 days but as they hatch asynchronously a clutch of three eggs requires 38 days of incubation. The chicks are cared for by both parents. The female Template:Birdgloss them for the first 14 days while the male brings food to the nest which the female feeds to the chicks. Later both parents bring items of food which are placed in the nest to allow the chicks to feed themselves. The nestlings begin climbing onto branches around their nest from 45 days but they rarely Template:Birdgloss before 48–50 days and sometimes not until they are 60–70 days of age. The young spend a further 15–20 days in the neighbourhood of the nest being fed by their parents. Only a single brood is raised each year but if the eggs are lost the female will relay.Template:Sfn
The maximum age recorded is 25 years and 8 months for a ringed bird in Germany.<ref name=euring>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The BTO longevity record for Britain and Ireland is also 25 years and 8 months for a bird found dead in Buckinghamshire in 2018.<ref name=bto>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2023, one of the first red kites reintroduced to the UK was found injured in Oxfordshire and later died, aged 29.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Food and feedingEdit
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The red kites are generalist scavengers and predators. Their diet consists mainly of carrions of large domestic animals such as sheep and pigs, roadkills, and stranded fish.<ref name = Ferguson>Ferguson-Lees, James, and David A. Christie. Raptors of the world. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001.</ref><ref>J. T. GARCÍA; J. VIÑUELA; C. SUNYER (1998). Geographic variation of the winter diet of the Red Kite Milvus milvus in the Iberian Peninsula., 140(2), 302–309.</ref> They also take small mammals such as mice, voles, shrews, stoats, young hares and rabbits.<ref name = Ferguson/><ref>Wildman, L., L. O'Toole, and R. W. Summers. "The diet and foraging behaviour of the Red Kite in northern Scotland." Scottish Birds 19 (1998): 134-140.</ref><ref>Korpimäki, Erkki, and Kai Norrdahl. "Avian predation on mustelids in Europe 1: occurrence and effects on body size variation and life traits." Oikos (1989): 205-215.</ref> Live birds are also taken, especially young or wounded, such as crows, doves, starlings, thrushes, larks, gulls, and waterfowls.<ref name = Ferguson/> Occasionally reptiles and amphibians are taken and invertebrates such as earthworms form an important part of the diet, especially in spring.<ref name=Pugh/> In some parts of the United Kingdom, red kites are also deliberately fed in domestic gardens, explaining the presence of red kites in urban areas.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> Here, up to 5% of householders have provided supplementary food for red kites, with chicken the predominant meat provided.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
As scavengers, red kites are particularly susceptible to poisoning. Illegal poison baits set for foxes or crows are indiscriminate and kill protected birds and other animals.<ref name=yorkshireredkites/> There have also been a number of incidents of red kites and other raptors being targeted by wildlife criminals.<ref name=Carrell2014/><ref name=HeraldSeries/>
On occasion, red kites may directly steal food from humans.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One such occurrence took place in Marlow, Buckinghamshire (a town near a major reintroduction site for the species in the UK in the nearby village of Stokenchurch), in which red kites swooped down to steal sandwiches from people in one of the town's parks.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Distribution and statusEdit
Red kites inhabit broadleaf woodlands, pastures, mixed farmland, valleys and wetland edges, up to at least Template:Convert elevation.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/> They are native to the western Palearctic, with all of the currently known 32,200–37,700 breeding pairs being in Europe.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/> There also used to be breeding populations in western Asia (northern Iran, Syria and Turkey) and northwestern Africa (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia), but most of these were extirpated in the 19th century or earlier;<ref name=Evans1991/> the only non-European breeding population in recent decades was in Morocco where the last known pair was in 2004.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/> Today it breeds from Portugal and Spain, through the central part of the continent east to European Russia, north to southern Scandinavia, Latvia and the United Kingdom, and south to southern Italy; few if any breeders remain in Balkan.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/><ref name=Evans1991>Template:Cite journal</ref> Most red kites that breed in the northern European mainland used to move south or west in winter, typically wintering in Spain and other parts of western Europe with a mild climate, as well as northwestern Africa (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) and Turkey. In recent decades, an increasing number of red kites from the northern European mainland have stayed in the region year-round.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/>
The populations in Germany (which alone is home to almost half of the world's breeding pairs), France and Spain declined between 1990 and 2000, and overall the species declined by almost 20% over those ten years. Populations in Germany and France have subsequently stabilised, and because of growth in other countries, the overall population is now increasing.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/> The main threats to red kites are poisoning, through illegal direct poisoning and indirect poisoning from pesticides, particularly in the wintering ranges in France and Spain, and changes in agricultural practices causing a reduction in food resources. Other threats include electrocution, hunting and trapping, deforestation, egg-collection (on a local scale) and possibly competition with the generally more successful black kite M. migrans.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />
Continental EuropeEdit
German populations declined by 25%–30% between 1991 and 1997, but have remained stable since. The populations of the northern foothills of the Harz Mountains (the most densely populated part of its range) suffered an estimated 50% decline from 1991 to 2001. In Spain, the species showed an overall decline in breeding population of up to 43% for the period 1994 to 2001–02, and surveys of wintering birds in 2003–04 suggest a similarly large decline in core wintering areas. The Balearic Islands population has declined from 41 to 47 breeding pairs in 1993 to just 10 in 2003. In France, breeding populations have decreased in the northeast, but seem to be stable in southwest and central France and Corsica. Populations elsewhere are stable or undergoing increases. In Sweden, the species has increased from 30 to 50 pairs in the 1970s to 1,200 breeding pairs in 2003 and has continued growing. In Switzerland, populations have been increasing since the 1990s.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> Red kites have declined in their traditional strongholds of Spain, France and Germany; while now stable in the last two countries, those populations remain well below their historical peaks.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> In contrast, red kite populations are increasing in parts of northern Europe, such as Denmark, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /><ref name=WelshKiteTrust/><ref name="RK DK">Template:Cite news</ref> The red kite is the official landscape bird of the Swedish province of Scania,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and depicted on the coat of arms of the municipality of Tomelilla.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
United KingdomEdit
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In the United Kingdom, red kites were ubiquitous scavengers that lived on carrion and rubbish.Template:Citation needed Shakespeare's King Lear describes his daughter Goneril as a detested kite, and he wrote "when the kite builds, look to your lesser linen" in reference to them stealing washing hung out to dry in the nesting season.<ref name=Radio4/> In the mid-15th century, King James II of Scotland decreed that they should be "killed wherever possible", but they remained protected in England and Wales for the next 100 years as they kept the streets free of carrion and rotting food.<ref name=NewKay/> Under Tudor "vermin laws" many creatures were seen as competitors for the produce of the countryside and bounties were paid by the parish for their carcasses.<ref name=McCarthy2007/>
By the 20th century, the breeding population was restricted to a handful of pairs in South Wales, but recently the Welsh population has been supplemented by re-introductions in England and Scotland. In 2004, from 375 occupied territories identified, at least 216 pairs were thought to have hatched eggs and 200 pairs reared at least 286 young.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> In 1989, six Swedish birds were released at a site in north Scotland and four Swedish and one Welsh bird in Buckinghamshire.<ref name="RSPB conservation"/> Altogether, 93 birds of Swedish and Spanish origin were released at each of the sites. In the second stage of reintroduction in 1995 and 1996, further birds were brought from Germany to populate areas of Dumfries and Galloway. Between 2004 and 2006, 94 birds were brought from the Chilterns and introduced into the Derwent Valley in north East England.<ref name="RSPB conservation"/> In Northern Ireland, 80 birds from wild stock in Wales were released between 2008 and 2010, and the first successful breeding was recorded in 2010. The reintroductions in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty have been a success. Between 1989 and 1993, 90 birds were released there and by 2002, 139 pairs were breeding.<ref name=Chilterns/> They can commonly be seen taking advantage of thermals from the M40 motorway.<ref name=McCarthy2/> Another successful reintroduction has been in Northamptonshire, which has become a stronghold for the red kite.<ref name=birdguides/> Thirty Spanish birds were introduced into Rockingham Forest near Corby in 2000,<ref name=northantset/> and by 2010, the RSPB estimated that over 200 chicks had been reared from the initial release. So successful has the reintroduction been that 30 chicks have been transported from Rockingham Forest for release in Cumbria.<ref name=BBC/> From the Chilterns they have spread as far east as Essex and can be seen over Harlow. By 2021 they had spread along the M4 as far as the Cotswold Edge overlooking the Severn near Bristol.
A sighting of the first red kite in London for 150 years was reported in The Independent newspaper in January 2006<ref name=McCarthy2006/> and in June of that year, the UK-based Northern Kites Project reported that kites had bred in the Derwent Valley in and around Rowlands Gill, Tyne and Wear for the first time since the re-introduction.<ref name=BBC2006/>
In 1999, the red kite was named 'Bird of the Century' by the British Trust for Ornithology.<ref name=Radio4/> According to the Welsh Kite Trust, it has been voted "Wales's favourite bird".<ref name=WalesFavBird/>
In June 2010, the Forestry Commission North West England announced a three-year project to release 90 red kites in Grizedale Forest, Cumbria under a special licence issued by Natural England. The Grizedale programme was the ninth reintroduction of red kites into different regions of the UK and the final re-introduction phase in England.<ref name=WestmorlandGazette/>
The stated aims of the Grizedale project were:
- To establish a viable population of red kites in Grizedale, South Cumbria by 2015.
- To increase the rate of red kite expansion into North West England and link up with existing populations in Wales, Yorkshire, North East England and South West Scotland and so increase the chances of a continuous geographical range.
- To develop community involvement and create educational opportunities arising from the project.<ref name="FC Poster"/>
As of July 2011, non-breeding birds are regularly seen in all parts of Britain, and the number of breeding pairs is too large for the RSPB to continue to survey them on an annual basis.<ref name=rspb2/>
IrelandEdit
Red kites were extinct in Ireland by the middle 19th century due to persecution, poisoning and woodland clearance. In May 2007, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Dick Roche announced an agreement to bring at least 100 birds from Wales to restock the population as part of a five-year programme in the Wicklow Mountains, similar to the earlier golden eagle reintroduction programme.<ref name=NDP/> On 19 July 2007, the first 30 red kites were released in County Wicklow.<ref name=environ.ie/><ref name=wildlifeextra/> On 22 May 2010, two newly hatched red kite chicks were discovered in the Wicklow Mountains,<ref name=Melia2010/> bringing the number of chicks hatched since reintroduction to seven.<ref name=goldeneagle/>
Populations and trends by countryEdit
The following figures (mostly estimates) have been collated from various sources.<ref name=bwpc/><ref name=Carter2001/>Template:Sfn<ref name=holloway/><ref name=rspb/><ref name=Carter09/><ref>Bstian, M., 2016. Soaring kites in Luxembourg... for how much longer? In: 33e réunion annuelle des collaborateurs scientifiques du Musée national d'histoire naturelle, Luxembourg 19 March 2016. Programm and Abstracts.</ref> They cover most of the countries in which red kites are believed to have bred.
| Country | Year | Pairs | Trend | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Flagcountry | 0 | Template:Unknown | Bred 1906 | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 0 | Template:Unchanged | Bred in the 19th century, now extinct | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 2019 | 90–130 | Template:Increase | Extinct 1950, recolonised 1970s; 5–10 pairs in 2000 and since then rapidly increasing<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 1997 | 1 | Template:Unknown | Extinct 1950s, recolonised 1985; 10 pairs 1990 | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 2020 | 350–400 | Template:Increase | Declined to 1–2 known pairs in 1967, then recovery<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 0 | Template:Unknown | |||
| Template:Flagcountry | 0 | Template:Unknown | May breed but no proof | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 0 | Template:Unchanged | Extinct 1970s | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 2000 | 1? | Template:Decrease | 50–75 pairs late 1980s; effectively extinct | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 0 | Template:Unknown | 2–5 pairs 1980s | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 2013 | 165–185 | Template:Increase | Extinct late 19th century, recolonised 1975 | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 2021 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
Template:Increase | Extinct c. 1920, then recolonised (from Germany/Sweden) 1970s. Slow increase up until the early 2000s (17 known pairs in 2001), since then rapidly increasing<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> |
| Template:Flagcountry | 2011 | c. 2,000 | Template:Increase | Extinct 1870s, reintroduced 1989–1992, recovering | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 1989 | <1 | Template:Unknown | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 2018 | 3,000–3,900 | Template:Unchanged | Rapidly declined from the 1980s until around 2010, since then stable or perhaps increasing locally<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 2018 | 14,000–16,000 | Template:Unchanged | 15,000–25,000 pairs 1980s; declined up until around 2000, populations subsequently stabilised<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 0 | Template:Unchanged | |||
| Template:Flagcountry | c. 1998 | 1+ | Template:Decrease | 30 pairs 1950s | |
| {{#invoke:flag | Ireland}} | 2010 | 7 | Template:Increase | First successful breeding reported in 2010 following reintroduction in 2007 |
| Template:Flagcountry | c. 2002 | 300–400 | Template:Increase | 70–150 pairs late 1980s. Clear increase in the mainland in recent decades, but almost extirpated in Sicily<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 1992 | 0–50 | Template:Increase | Extinct 1964, then recolonised | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 1988 | 1–2 | Template:Increase | Extinct, then recolonised 1981 | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 2015 | 90 | Template:Increase | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 1990 | 1 | Template:Unknown | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 1995 | 0 | Template:Unknown | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 2020 | 0 | Template:Unchanged | Last breeding pair in 2004; rare winter visitor<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/> | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 2018 | 15–20<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Increase | Extinct 1852, recolonised 1970s, but highly irregular until 2008, since then regular and increasing | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 2010 | 5 | Template:Increase | First successful breeding reported in 2010 following reintroduction in 2008 | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 0 | Template:Unknown | |||
| Template:Flagcountry | 1980 | 0 | Template:Unchanged | Bred occasionally in the 19th century | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 2012 | 1,500–1,800<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> | Template:Increase | 400–450 pairs 1980s | |
| Template:Flagcountry | c. 1995 | 100–200 | Template:Decrease | Appears to have rapidly decreased in recent decades, but accurate data lacking<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/> | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 1995 | 15–20 | Template:Unknown | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 1992 | 0–50 | Template:Unknown | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 2009 | 135 | Template:Increase | Extinct 1886, reintroduced 1989–1992 | |
| Template:Flagcountry | Template:Unknown | ||||
| Template:Flagcountry | 1992 | 10–20 | Template:Unknown | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 2018 | 2,312–2,440 | Template:Decrease | 10,000 pairs 1977 | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 2020 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
Template:Increase | Increase from the low-point of 30–50 pairs in the 1970s<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> |
| Template:Flagcountry | 2013–2016 | 2,800–3,500 | Template:Increase | Declined 19th century, later recovery; 235–300 pairs in the late 1980s, 800–1,000 pairs in 1995. | |
| Template:Flagcountry | 0 | Template:Unchanged | Bred in the 19th century, now extinct | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 0 | Template:Unknown | May have bred in past but no firm evidence | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 1990 | 5–8 | Template:Decrease | ||
| Template:Flagcountry | 2009 | c. 1,000 | Template:Increase | Declined to two pairs in the 1930s, then recovery |
ObservationEdit
One of the best places to see the red kite in Scandinavia is Scania in southern Sweden. It may be observed in one of its breeding locations such as the Kullaberg Nature Preserve near Mölle.<ref name=Hogan2005/> In Switzerland, they are a common sight in all rural areas, excluding the Alps and its foothills.Template:Citation needed
Some of the best places to see them in the United Kingdom are Gigrin Farm near Rhayader, mid Wales, where hundreds are fed by the local farmer as a tourist attraction,<ref name=gigrin/> a Red Kite Feeding Station at Llanddeusant in the Brecon Beacons, visited daily by over 50 birds,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the Bwlch Nant yr Arian forest visitor centre in Ceredigion<ref name=nantyrarian/> where the rare leucistic variant can be seen.<ref name=Melton2008/> In England, the Oxfordshire part of the Chilterns has many red kites, especially near Henley-on-Thames and Watlington, where they were introduced on John Paul Getty's estate.<ref name=Chilterns/> Red Kites are also becoming common across the border in Buckinghamshire, often being seen near Stokenchurch, where a population was released in the 1990s, and Flackwell Heath near High Wycombe. They can also be seen around Harewood near Leeds where they were re-introduced in 1999.<ref name=Harewood/> In Ireland they can be best observed at Redcross, near Avoca, County Wicklow.Template:Citation needed
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
SourcesEdit
Further readingEdit
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External linksEdit
Template:Sister project Template:Sister project
- Friends of Red Kites - Details about the reintroduced kites in the Derwent Valley, Gateshead
- Template:ARKive
- BBC Wales Nature - Red Kite footage
- BBC Report about this bird's redemption in UK culture from a hated shithawk to a beloved bird
- The Welsh Kite Trust - includes UK breeding reports
- About Red Kites - includes latest figures available in UK
- Details Red Kites in the Chilterns - about the reintroduced kites in the Chilterns
- Red Kites in Yorkshire
- Red Kites in Berkshire (Berkshire Ornithological Club) - 2006/2007 Survey
- Adult and juvenile Red Kite wing identification images (PDF; 5.6 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze Template:Webarchive
- Template:InternetBirdCollection
- Template:VIREO
- Template:IUCN Map
Template:Taxonbar Template:National symbols of Wales Template:Authority control