They can be quite vocal, so listen to their mew-like call ( ). Red Kites are easy to identify and almost unmistakable, with their forked tail and brightly patterned red colours with long wings. During the winter months, it is common for red kites to gather in large groups, an indication that food is present. Red Kites are a common sight in the Chilterns area, and can be seen all year round, usually gliding effortlessly through the countryside. We are a ‘not for profit’ organisation so rely on valuable help from skilled volunteers to improve our database. Your records can inform a variety of exciting biodiversity projects and help people make informed decisions about how to develop and manage land sustainably. ![]() By letting TVERC know what you have seen you will help protect and improve your local environment by increasing the quality and quantity of data we hold.Ībsence records are also very useful, so also let us know if you’ve been out and haven’t seen anything! If you spot any wildlife when you’re out and about, share your records and photos with TVERC. All it means is that no-one has told TVERC they’ve spotted them… yet! However, our database only includes information which people have provided us (and we have collected), so a lack of records doesn’t mean that Red Kites aren’t present in the area. Red kites were not reintroduced across the UK in the 90s as stated in an earlier version, and the programme involved birds from Sweden as well as Spain.According to our database, Red Kite is found throughout Oxfordshire and Berkshire, but particularly in the Chilterns where the reintroduction programme took place and it is estimated there could be over 1,000 breeding pairs. With its distinctive forked tail and reddish-brown plumage the red kite is. According to the RSPB, the kites in those parts have plenty of natural food sources and need no supplementary feeding, so don’t do it.ĭo say: “Red kite at morning, get under the awning!”ĭon’t say: “Red kite at regatta, talons off my piccata.” Red kites sightings in Norfolk have increased as the population has risen. Well I think it’s great that these birds can once again thrive by preying upon the citizens of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. For a large raptor it has small, weak talons and cannot attack larger mammals that a Common Buzzard might prefer. There may now be up to 1,000 breeding pairs in the area. The Red Kite is a scavenger and will eat almost anything. A number were released on John Paul Getty’s estate in the Chilterns, close to Henley. Then what happened? In the early 90s red kites were reintroduced to England and Scotland from Spain and Sweden. How come we haven’t heard about these attacks until now? There have been reports of red kites raiding picnics going back a few years, and the birds were well known as opportunistic thieves in Shakespeare’s time, but in between they were hunted to near extinction. If it wants your sausage roll, you should probably give it up. That also happens, but it’s worth remembering that a kite is a raptor with sharp talons and a wingspan of up to 1.5 metres. It reminds me of gulls fighting tourists for ice-creams on seaside piers. The suspicion is that people are feeding them so that they can get close-up pictures, and that this behaviour has sparked a free-for-all. ![]() There have also been local reports of stolen sausage rolls and hot cross buns, and even steaks lifted off barbecues. Incubation is around 32 days, most of which is undertaken by the female. ![]() That’s quite a Henley-on-Thames story, if you don’t mind me saying. dominant chick which will usually outlive the others if food is scarce. Ouch! And local resident Anna Howell was eating a salad in her back garden when a kite swooped down and helped itself to a bit of smoked mackerel. Only recently, a child in a pram suffered nasty cuts after a kite snatched a custard cream from his hand. Home of the regatta, and that thing where they count all the swans? The very same.īut why? Are these birds avenging something? Mostly they’re scavenging something. Where is this happening? In the remote desert wastes of some faraway land? No, in Henley-on-Thames. We’re talking about the red kite – a bird of prey from the same family as buzzards and harriers – attacking people. Appearance: From above, as if out of nowhere.Īre people getting tangled up in the strings, or what? Kite as in bird, not as in kite.
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