Red kite
The red kite (Milvus milvus) is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. This family also has other raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers.
| Red Kite | |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Milvus |
| Species: | M. milvus
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| Binomial name | |
| Milvus milvus | |
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| Distribution map Cyan: resident; Green: breeding visitor | |
| Synonyms | |
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Falco milvus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
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The species is found all over Europe and northwest Africa.[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.[2]
Red kites eat small mammals and carrion. They were wiped out in most of Britain, except for a few in south Wales. Farmers killed them, and so did the DDT picked up from their prey. They have made a big come-back in England and Scotland after they were recently re-introduced.[3][4]
A sighting of the first red kite in London for 150 years was reported in The Independent newspaper in January 2006.[5] In June 2006, the UK-based Northern Kites Project reported that kites had bred in the Derwent Valley, Tyne and Wear for the first time since the re-introduction.[6]
Red Kite Media
Red Kite at Bwlch Nant yr Arian, Wales, a local feeding ground.
Leucistic Red Kite in Flight This unusual colour is referred to as leucistic, unlike albino, some pigment is still present. This particular bird has remarkably come all the way from Wales. She has visited the Kite feeding station here in Dumfries and Galloway a number of times. She wasn't quite as bold as the other birds and kept her distance, this image was taken from Ballymack farm using a long lens!
Red Kite (Milvus milvus) skull at the Royal Veterinary College anatomy museum
Red kite, falconry Adlerwarte Obernberg am Inn, Upper Austria
Eggs in the natural history collection of the Museum Wiesbaden, Germany
Red Kite (Milvus milvus), three nestlings in the nest, age of oldest 32 days, all showing akinetic behaviour. Taken by user Accipiter (R. Altenkamp), 13.6.1998, Berlin, Germany
Red kite in flight in Gredos Mountains, Avila, Spain
Nestling red kites, Barnim, Germany
Red kite, Gigrin Farm, Wales
A short video on Red Kite feeding at Bwlch Nant yr Arian visitor centre in Ceredigion, Wales
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References
- ↑ "Milvus milvus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Snow D.W. & Perrins C.M. 1998. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-854099-X
- ↑ Rod Liddle, BBC Radio 4. The kestrel and the red kite
- ↑ "The red kite in west Wales". Archived from the original on 2011-08-31. Retrieved 2015-07-05.
- ↑ McCarthy, Michael (13 January 2006). "Shakespeare's red kite returns to London after an absence of 150 years". The Independent on Sunday. [1] Archived 2012-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Delight as red kite chicks hatch. BBC News