Newsletter / Blog
2011-11-26 Red Kite reintroduction programme - the most successful scheme of its type in the UK.
New figures compiled by RSPB Scotland and Scottish Natural
Heritage reveal that in 2011 there are 186 breeding pairs of Red Kite in Scotland, a
rise of 22 on the previous year. During this year's breeding season, a record
314 young fledged, the highest since reintroductions began in Scotland in 1989.
It is now estimated that, following reintroductions, the UK
holds between 7 and 10% of the world Red Kite population.
The Red Kite - Milvus milvus - is a
medium-large bird of prey. The species is currently endemic to the Western
Palearctic region in Europe and North West Africa.
Description
The Red Kite males are smaller than the females. It is an
elegant bird, soaring with long wings 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.
The sexes are similar, but juveniles have a buff breast and belly.
Call
The call is a thin piping, similar to but less mewling than
the Common Buzzard.
Food
Food consists mainly of small mammals such as mice, voles,
shrews, young hares and rabbits. It also feeds on a wide variety of carrion
including sheep carcasses and dead game birds. Live birds are also taken and
occasionally reptiles and amphibians. Earthworms also form an important part of
the diet, especially in the spring.
Breeding
Adult red kites are sedentary birds, and they occupy their
breeding home range all year in the United Kingdom. Both birds build
the nest on a main fork or a limb high in a tree, 12-20m high made of dead
twigs and lined with grass or other vegetation and sheep’s wool. Red Kites
usually breed for the first time at 2 or 3 years old and they usually pair for
life. Between one and four eggs are usually laid, two being by far the most
usual number. Incubation is carried out by the female, who is fed at the nest
by the male. Males will incubate for very short periods (usually less than 30
minutes) while the female goes off to feed, hunt or preen. Each egg will hatch
between 31 and 35 days after incubation, resulting in chicks hatching at two or
three day intervals. Because of this,
sibling aggression is common and the larger chick will peck vigorously at its
younger nest-mates if they attempt to get food before it has had its fill. In
nests where food is in short supply the size difference between the chicks will
increase with the smaller one(s) ultimately dying of starvation or being killed
by the larger chick(s). The young birds fledge in about six to seven weeks and
will remain with their parents for a further week to 10 days.
Conservation Status –Near Threatened
Birdwatching
In the United Kingdom,
populations of red kites now occur in the Chilterns, mid Wales, north Scotland,
central Scotland, east
Midlands and Yorkshire. All these populations
except the one in Wales,
are the result of re-introduction. |