The Red Kite's Year

177 Pages·33.902 MB·English

by  Ian Carter, Dan Powell

The Red Kite’s Year

THE RED
KITE’S YEAR
Ian Carter and Dan Powell
PELAGIC PUBLISHING
Published by Pelagic Publishing
PO Box 874
Exeter
EX3 9BR
UK
www.pelagicpublishing.com
The Red Kite’s Year
ISBN 978-1-78427-200-5 Paperback
ISBN 978-1-78427-201-2 ePub
ISBN 978-1-78427-202-9 PDF
Text © Ian Carter 2019
Illustrations and artist’s notes © Dan Powell 2019
The moral rights of the author and artist have been asserted.
All rights reserved. Apart from short excerpts for use in research or
for reviews, no part of this document may be printed or reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, now known or hereafter
invented or otherwise without prior permission from the publisher.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
Cover: Adult birds drifting along Beacon Hill.
Nice flyby while having a cup of coffee. April 2012.
To the many people who have helped with the restoration
of the Red Kite in Britain and Ireland

CONTENTS
Foreword by Mark Avery xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction 1
January 11
Winter food 11
Coping with severe weather 13
February 18
The first signs of spring 18
The pair bond and age of first breeding 18
Courtship behaviour and calling 20
Male or female? 25
History in Britain 26
Early history 26
A decline in fortunes 29
The road to recovery – Red Kite protection in Wales 32
March 35
Faithfulness to breeding sites 35
Nest building 35
Nest spacing and breeding density 41
April 42
Final touches to the nest 42
Eggs and incubation 48
Nest decoration 49
Defence of the nest 51
vii
THE RED KITE’S YEAR
The Red Kite reintroduction programme 53
Early reintroduction attempts 53
Planning the restoration to England and Scotland 54
Collecting young and care in captivity 55
Release into the wild 58
Progress so far 61
Further release projects 64
The wider benefits of reintroduction 65
The future 72
May 73
Care of small chicks 73
Studies of food in the breeding season 73
Foraging range and habitat use 76
June 78
The growing brood 78
Preparations for the first flight 80
July 82
Leaving the nest 82
Towards independence 84
Red Kite adoptions 84
Measuring breeding success 85
Threats and problems 91
Illegal persecution 91
Accidental poisoning 95
Egg collecting 100
Collisions and accidents 101
Power lines 103
August 106
Fending for themselves 106
Plumage differences 106
The annual moult 108
A lull in activity 110
viii
CONTENTS
September 111
Wanderlust 111
The Red Kite as a migrant 112
The use of new technology 113
To feed or not to feed? 115
Changes in legislation 115
Red Kite feeding stations 118
Feeding in gardens 119
October 124
The communal roost 124
Attendance patterns 125
The daily routine 126
November 128
The benefits of communal roosting 128
Social interactions and play at roosts 132
December 135
A wildlife spectacle 135
The influence of weather on roosting behaviour 136
World status 143
Northern Europe 144
Northwest Europe 145
Central and eastern Europe 145
Southern Europe 146
The future 149

Further reading 152
Sources of further information 155
Species mentioned in the text 156
Index 157
ix