Red kite

Red kite
Red kite, Black Mountains, Wales, 2009
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Subfamily: Milvinae
Genus: Milvus
Species: M. milvus
Binomial name
Milvus milvus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The red kite (Milvus milvus) is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. The species is currently endemic to the Western Palearctic region in Europe and northwest Africa, though formerly also occurred just outside in northern Iran.[2] It is resident in the milder parts of its range in western Europe and northwest Africa, but birds from northeastern and central Europe winter further south and west, reaching south to Turkey. Vagrants have reached north to Finland and south to Israel, Libya and Gambia.[2][3]

Taxonomy

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.[4] The word milvus was the Latin name for the bird.[5] In 1799 the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède moved the species to the genus Milvus creating the tautonym.[6]

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.[7] 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.[8] 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,[9] 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 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.[8]

Description

Leucistic form
A red kite skull

Red kites are 60 to 70 cm (24 to 28 in) long[10] with a 175–179 cm (69–70 in) wingspan; males weigh 800–1,200 g (28–42 oz), and females 1,000–1,300 g (35–46 oz).[2] 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 is at a disadvantage in the survival stakes.[11]

Differences between adults and juveniles

Adults differ from juveniles in a number of characteristics:

These differences hold throughout most of the first year of a bird's life.

Behaviour

Diet

Side view of adult, Wales

The red kite's diet consists mainly of small mammals such as mice, voles, shrews, young hares and rabbits. It 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 form an important part of the diet, especially in spring.[12]

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.[13] There have also been a number of incidents of red kites and other raptors being targeted by wildlife criminals.[14][15]

Breeding

The egg of a red kite (bottom right) from Henry Seebohm and Richard Bowdler Sharpe's Coloured Figures of the Eggs of British Birds (1896).
Juveniles at nest, Berlin.

Although adult red kites are sedentary birds, occupying their breeding home range all year in most cases, populations from Central and Northern Europe—although not the United Kingdom—may migrate south to areas such as Spain and the Iberian peninsula during colder winters.[16][17] Each nesting territory can contain up to five nest sites. Both male and female birds build the nest on a main fork or a limb high in a tree, 12–20 m (39–66 ft) above the ground. The nest is made of twigs and lined with grass or other vegetation and sheep’s wool.[12][17] At signs of danger, a mother will signal the young who will "play dead" when a predator is near.[18]

Distribution and status

Red kite in flight in Gredos Mountains, Avila, Spain

Red kites inhabit broadleaf woodlands, valleys and wetland edges, to 800 metres (2,600 ft). They are endemic to the western Palearctic, with the European population of 19,000–25,000 pairs encompassing 95% of its global breeding range. It breeds from Spain and Portugal east into central Europe and Ukraine, north to southern Sweden, Latvia and the UK, and south to southern Italy. There is a population in northern Morocco. Northern birds move south in winter, mostly staying in the west of the breeding range, but also to eastern Turkey, northern Tunisia and Algeria. The three largest populations (in Germany, France and Spain, which together hold more than 75% of the global population) declined between 1990 and 2000, and overall the species declined by almost 20% over the ten years. 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.[1]

Continental Europe

Nestling red kites, Barnim, Germany

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 41–47 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 30–50 pairs in the 1970s to 1,200 breeding pairs in 2003. In Switzerland, populations increased during the 1990s, and have stabilised.[1] According to a report by the Welsh Kite Trust, the UK is the only country in which the red kite population is increasing. Red kites are decreasing in their strongholds of Spain, France and Germany.[19]

United Kingdom

Red kite, Gigrin Farm, Wales
Red kites at the feeding station, Laurieston, Scotland.

In the United Kingdom, red kites were ubiquitous scavengers that lived on carrion and rubbish. 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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22]

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.[1] In 1989, six Swedish birds were released at a site in north Scotland and four Swedish and a Welsh bird in Buckinghamshire.[23] 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. Ninety-four birds were brought from the Chilterns and introduced into the Derwent Valley in North East England between 2004 and 2006.[23] In Northern Ireland, 80 birds from wild stock in Wales were released over three years between 2008 and 2010, and in 2010 the first successful breeding was recorded. The reintroductions in the Chilterns have been a success. Between 1989 and 1993, 90 birds were released in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and by 2002, 139 pairs were breeding there.[24] They can commonly be seen taking advantage of thermals from the M40 motorway.[25] Another successful reintroduction has been in Northamptonshire, which has become a stronghold for the red kite.[26] Thirty Spanish birds were introduced into Rockingham Forest near Corby in 2000,[27] 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.[28]

A sighting of the first red kite in London for 150 years was reported in The Independent newspaper in January 2006[29] 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.[30]

In 1999, the red kite was named 'Bird of the Century' by the British Trust for Ornithology.[20] According to the Welsh Kite Trust, it has been voted "Wales's favourite bird".[31]

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 will be the ninth reintroduction of red kites into different regions of the UK, and the final re-introduction phase in England.[32]

The stated aims of the Grizedale project are:

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.[34]

Ireland

Red kites were extinct in Ireland by the middle nineteenth 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 5-year programme in the Wicklow Mountains, similar to the earlier golden eagle reintroduction programme.[35] On 19 July 2007, the first thirty red kites were released in County Wicklow.[36][37] On 22 May 2010, 2 newly hatched red kite chicks were discovered in the Wicklow mountains,[38] bringing the number of chicks hatched since reintroduction to 7.[39]

Sweden

Sweden is one location where the red kite seems to be in progress with around 2000 pairs in 2009, some of which are overwintering and some flying south to the Mediterranean landscapes for the winter. They return around March–April. The red kite is the landscape bird of Scania, and the coat of arms of the municipality of Tomelilla. The kite is often seen along the roadsides and roaming the open colourful patchwork quilt of wheat and rapeseed fields of Scania.

The following figures (mostly estimates) have been collated from various sources.[2][40][41][42][43][44][45] They cover most of the countries in which red kites are believed to have bred.

Country Year Pairs Trend Notes
 Albania Unknown Bred 1906
 Algeria 0 Unknown Bred in the 19th century, now extinct
 Austria 2000 0–2 Decrease Extinct 1950, recolonised 1970s; 10 pairs 1990
 Belarus 1997 1 Unknown Extinct 1950s, recolonised 1985; 10 pairs 1990
 Belgium c.1995 50–60 Increase Declined to 1–3 pairs early 1970s, then recovery
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 Unknown  
 Bulgaria 0 Unknown May breed but no proof
 Canary Islands 0 Steady Extinct 1970s
 Cape Verde 2000 1? Decrease 50–75 pairs late 1980s; effectively extinct
 Croatia 0 Unknown 2–5 pairs 1980s
 Czech Republic 2013 165-185 Increase Extinct late 19th century, recolonised 1975
 Denmark 2013 120[46] Increase Extinct c.1920, then recolonised (from Sweden) 1970s
 England 2011 c.2000 Increase Extinct 1870s, reintroduced 1989–1992
 Estonia 1989 <1 Unknown  
 France late 2000s c.3000 Decrease 2300–2900 pairs 1980s
 Germany late 2000s c.12000 Decrease 15000–25000 pairs 1980s
 Greece 0 Unknown  
 Hungary c.1998 1+ Decrease 30 pairs 1950s
 Ireland 2010 7 Increase First successful breeding reported in 2010 following reintroduction in 2007
 Italy c.2002 300–400 Unknown 70–150 pairs late 1980s
 Latvia 1992 0–50 Increase Extinct 1964, then recolonised
 Lithuania 1988 1–2 Increase Extinct, then recolonised 1981
 Luxembourg 2015 90 Increase  
 Macedonia 0 Unknown  
 Moldova 1990 1 Unknown  
 Montenegro 1995 0 Unknown  
 Morocco c.1992 10–100 Decrease In danger of extinction
 Netherlands c.1998 <5 Increase Extinct 1852, recolonised 1976
 Northern Ireland 2010 5 Increase First successful breeding reported in 2010 following reintroduction in 2008
 Norway 1980 0 Steady Bred occasionally in the 19th century
 Poland c.1998 650–700 Increase 400–450 pairs 1980s
 Portugal c.1995 100–200 Unknown  
 Romania 1995 15–20 Unknown  
 Russia 1992 0–50 Unknown  
 Scotland 2009 135 Increase Extinct 1886, reintroduced 1989–1992
 Serbia Unknown  
 Slovakia 1992 10–20 Unknown  
 Spain late 2000s c.2200 Decrease 10000 pairs 1977
 Sweden late 2000s c.1800 Increase Increase from 400 pairs in 1993
  Switzerland c.1995 800–1000 Increase Declined 19th century, later recovery; 235–300 pairs late 1980s
 Tunisia 0 Unknown Bred in the 19th century, now extinct
 Turkey 0 Unknown May have bred in past but no proof
 Ukraine 1990 5–8 Decrease  
 Wales 2009 c.1000 Increase Declined to 2 pairs in the 1930s, then recovery
 Yugoslavia 0 Unknown Formerly more common

Observation

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.[47] In Switzerland, they are a common sight in all rural areas, excluding the Alps and its foothills.

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,[48] a Red Kite Feeding Station at Llanddeusant in the Brecon Beacons, visited daily by over 50 birds,[49] and the Nant-Yr-Arian forest recreation centre in Ceredigion[50] where the rare leucistic variant can be seen.[51] In the UK, 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.[24] They can also be seen around Harewood near Leeds where they were re-introduced in 1999.[52] In Ireland they can be best observed at Redcross, near Avoca, County Wicklow.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 BirdLife International (2013). "Milvus milvus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Snow, D.W.; Perrins, C.M. (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic (Concise ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-854099-X.
  3. ↑ Barlow, C.; Wacher, T.; Disley, T. (1997). A Field Guide to Birds of the Gambia and Senegal. Mountfield, UK: Pica Press. ISBN 1-873403-32-1.
  4. ↑ Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. (in Latin). Stockholm: Laurentius Salvius. p. 89. F. cera flava, cauda forsicata, corpore ferrugineo, capite albidiore.
  5. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 255. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ↑ Lacépède, Bernard Germain de (1799). "Tableau des sous-classes, divisions, sous-division, ordres et genres des oiseux". Discours d'ouverture et de clôture du cours d'histoire naturelle (in French). Paris: Plassan. p. 4. Page numbering starts at one for each of the three sections.
  7. ↑ Hille, Sabine; Thiollay, Jean-Marc (2000). "The imminent extinction of the kites Milvus milvus fasciicauda and Milvus m. migrans on the Cape Verde Islands". Bird Conservation International. 10: 361–369. doi:10.1017/s0959270900000319.
  8. 1 2 Johnson, Jeff A.; Watson, Richard T.; Mindell, David P. (2005). "Prioritizing species conservation: does the Cape Verde kite exist?". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 272 (7): 1365–1371. PMC 1560339 Freely accessible. PMID 16006325. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3098.
  9. ↑ Schreiber, Arnd; Stubbe, Michael; Stubbe, Annegret (2000). "Red kite (Milvus milvus) and black kite (M. migrans): minute genetic interspecies distance of two raptors breeding in a mixed community (Falconiformes: Accipitridae)". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 69 (3): 351–365. doi:10.1006/bijl.1999.0365.
  10. ↑ Campbell, David (2000). "Red Kite". The Encyclopedia of British Birds. Bath: Parragon. p. 118. ISBN 0752541595.
  11. ↑ "The White Kite". Gigrin Farm - The Red Kite feeding station. Gigrin Farm. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  12. 1 2 Pugh, Elfyn. "The Red Kite". Birds of Britain. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  13. ↑ "Red Kites and poisons". Yorkshire Red Kites. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  14. ↑ Carrell, Severin (3 April 2014). "Scottish bird of prey colony hit by mass poisonings". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  15. ↑ "Wildlife crime soars". The Herald Series. 12 September 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2009. In Didcot, poisoned rabbits were laid out as bait disguised as road-kill, targeting red kites
  16. ↑ "Red Kite". European Raptors. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  17. 1 2 "Scotland's Wildlife: Red Kite". BBC Scotland outdoors articles. BBC. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  18. ↑ "Red kite". BBC Nature: Wildlife. BBC. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  19. ↑ "Red Kites decline in Europe". Welsh Kite Trust. Archived from the original on 8 November 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
  20. 1 2 "BBC Radio 4, Debating Animals, Series 2, The Kestrel and Red Kite by Rod Liddle".
  21. ↑ Atrill, Rod. "The Red Kite in West Wales". New Quay on Cardigan Bay in West Wales. Rod Attrill. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  22. ↑ McCarthy, Michael (23 March 2007). "Book Review:Silent Field, By Roger Lovegrove: songbirds versus shotguns". The Independent. London: Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  23. 1 2 "Red Kite". RSPB Conservation. RSPB. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  24. 1 2 Schurmer, Michael (November 2002). "Breeding Bird Survey of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 2002" (PDF). RSPB. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  25. ↑ McCarthy, Michael. "Red kite makes triumphant return in England and Scotland but numbers decline elsewhere". The Independent. Retrieved 14 January 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  26. ↑ "RSPB Red Kite numbers are soaring across the UK". Birdguides. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  27. ↑ "Red Kite project a soaring success". Evening Telegraph. 9 November 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  28. ↑ "Red kite chicks from Northamptonshire released to wild". BBC. 17 August 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  29. ↑ McCarthy, Michael (13 January 2006). "Shakespeare's red kite returns to London after an absence of 150 years". The Independent on Sunday. Independent News and Media Limited. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  30. ↑ "Delight as red kite chicks hatch". BBC News. 16 June 2006. Retrieved 27 October 2006.
  31. ↑ "The Welsh Kite Trust". Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  32. ↑ "Red kites to make a Lake District return". The Westmorland Gazette. Newsquest media group. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  33. ↑ "Grizedale Red Kite Project" (PDF). Forestry Commission information posters. Forestry commission. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  34. ↑ "Red kite: Distribution and population size". The RSPB. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  35. ↑ "Golden Eagle Trust, Glenveagh National Park". National Development plan. NDP. Archived from the original on 6 April 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  36. ↑ "Red Kite Reintroduction Project in Wicklow". 21 May 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011.
  37. ↑ "Red Kites fly again in Ireland". Wildlife Extra: News. Wildlife Extra. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  38. ↑ Melia, Paul (22 May 2010). "Two chicks about the size of a fist". Irish Independent.
  39. ↑ "Golden Eagle Trust | Red Kite | Project Updates". Goldeneagle.ie. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  40. ↑ Carter, Ian (2001). The Red Kite. Chelmsford, UK: Arlequin Press.
  41. ↑ Cramp, S. (1980). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume 2. Oxford. ISBN 0-19-857505-X.
  42. ↑ Holloway, S. (1996). The Historical Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland: 1875–1900. T & A D Poyser. ISBN 0-85661-094-1.
  43. ↑ RSPB Scotland, cited in The Scotsman, Monday 15 September 2008
  44. ↑ Carter, Ian (2009): The Red Kite. presentation to the Cambridgeshire Bird Club, Cambridge, UK, 13 November 2009.
  45. ↑ 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 March 19, 2016. Programm and Abstracts.
  46. ↑ Danish Ornithological Society
  47. ↑ Hogan, C. Michael (2005): Kullaberg Nature Reserve, Sweden. Lumina technologies.
  48. ↑ "Red Kite Feeding Station — Gigrin Farm". Retrieved 27 October 2006.
  49. ↑ Red Kites Wales
  50. ↑ "Bwlch Nant-yr-Arian". Bwlch Nant Yr Arian Visitor Centre. 2008. Archived from the original on 2 August 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  51. ↑ Melton, Tom (13 August 2008). "Leucistic Red Kite". ephotozone. ephotozone. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  52. ↑ "Birder watchers' paradise". BBC Hands on Nature. BBC. pp. Parks: Harewood Estate. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
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