The Red Kite: From tragedy to success.

The red kite (Milvus milvus) is arguably one of the UK's greatest conservations successes. After recently doing a little presentation on these magnificent birds in a lecture I thought it would be nice to share their battle seeing as they are one of my all time favourite birds. Its by no means a fully documented account of their story but more of a concise read. Enjoy.

The Red Kite

(Milvus milvus) 

 

The red kite was one of the founding species in English Nature's species recovery programme and represents on of the programme's biggest success stories to date. The red kite is now currently listed as "theatened" under the IUCN and is on the amber criteria list defined by the RSPB. The total world population of red kites is now thought to be around 20 000 - 23 000 breeding pairs, with Germany, France & Spain being the stronghold. Wales is predicted to have around 600 breeding pairs with the total UK population of red kites reaching approximately 1600 breeding pairs. The future of the red kite. These encouraging numbers do not mean the red kite is totally secure though, but the projects that have been taking place have so far being a success and are an excellent example of what can be achieved by a well planned and carefully monitored reintroduction programme.
 

1) The Decline

Widespread persecution of the red kite began as early as the 16th century due to the introduction of various vermin acts by the British government. At this time this included the red kite which was deemed a pest and as a threat to expanding agriculture by many. From these acts a systematic execution of the red kite began. This persecution continued through the 17th and 18th century until by the 19th century the last breeding pair had disappeared in England. The kites disappearance was also excelled by the species low capacity to recover from local mortality events. The decline was also caused by a global impoverishment of rural landscapes. The large shift from polycultures to larger monocultures, throughout most of Europe; the change from permanent grasslands to arable lands along with a heavier dependance on the use of fertilizers and pesticides resulted in a severe drop in the number of prey/ carrion available for the kite, lack of shelter and breeding sites. The closure of rubbish dumps in recent years due to the shift in the recycling culture in Europe has also had an ironic adverse effect as some populations had begun to rely heavily on the rubbish dumps as a food source. The rarity of the red kite also made it a prime target for egg collectors and bouny hunters, who mercessly robbed up to a quarter of all nests every year. Being primarily scavengers they also ingested large numbers of lead fragments from prey that had been shot, leading to high levels of lead poisoning. Germany use to be the world stronghold for red kites housing 60% of the overall population, but the red kite was still not safe here, the german population fell 25% in 3 years. This decline echoed further across Europe, in France the opulaion of kites drastically dropped in almost every region. Spanish populations were even hit in national parks. From 1989 to 1998 the numbers dropped from 140 to 4 breeding pairs on the island of Minorca. Conservation efforts were also raised in Ita and other countries in Europe such as Austria. In 1977 the entire population of Red Kites in h UK is uspected to have dropped to 1 single female bird.

2) Reintroduction

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have been continuously involved with helping red kites since 1905 with the earliest attempts at nest protection schemes. However, by the 1980's the red kite was 1 of only 3 globally threatened species in the UK, so was a high priority for conservation efforts (RSPB, 2012). It was initially hoped that the small remaining population of red kites in the North West of Wales would spread and increase in number with minimal human involvement. This ideal was hindered though by high mortality rates, poor breeding success and a reluctance of chicks to breed far from the nest site they were reared, meaning the population was not spreading. These factors meant that a more structured response was required if the kite was to survive. In 1986 English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage and the RSPB placed forward a proposal scheme of captive breeding and release for the red kite. It would only be accepted if they met a strict set of criteria placed forward by IUCN. The project eventually began in 1989.

In 1989 wild nestlings were brought to the UK from Spain and Sweden. The were kept in captivity for 6 to 8 weeks, with minimal human contact before being released into the wild. When released, they were strictly monitored. Over a period of 5 years, 186 young kites were released into the Chilterns of South England and in Northern Scotland. Over the years both areas have developed self sustaining breeding populations and as of 2013, 270 chicks have been reared in total at the Chilterns site. Further reintroductions were started in 1999, both in the East midlands and in Yorkshire, just outside of Leeds. The Yorkshire reintroduction is still ongoing and in 2012, 92 breeding pairs were identified, 78 of which were successful, rearing 145 chicks in total. By 1993 the Welsh population had also begun to show signs of recover. 100 breeding pairs were recorded in total, this increase was mainly due to laws and regulations on egg collectors, hunting and pesticide use being more stringently enforced. Egg collectors were foiled by sophisticated nest protection initiatives which were introduced in the 1950's and 1960's, so is no longer considered a problem. Illegal poisoning is still a large problem within the Welsh population, with it being recorded as the cause of over half of all kite deaths in Wales.

A reintroduction programme was carried out in Ireland. The Golden Eagle Trust in partnership with the RSPB, the National Parks and Wildlife services and the Welsh Kite Trust aimed to establish a single self sustaining population. Wales 'donated' 27 chicks to the project in 2008 followed by a further 26 in 2009. 5 kites successfully fledged in 2010, their parents all from the first release group. A final 27 kites were released in 2010. In 2012, 15 chicks from 10 nests fledged successfully. Until 2014 no more releases are planned and the population is being closely monitored through radio tracking tagging. Since the project bean a total of 28 red kites have hatched, making it a least seem like a success in just over 5 years.

Reintroduction timeline

1989- 6 Swedish birds were released at a site in North Scotland and 4 Swedish & 1 Welsh bird were released in Buckinghamshire. Altogether, 93 birds of Swedish and Spanish origin were released at each of the sites, with the last birds released in 1993 in Scotland and 1994 in England. 

1992- The first successful breeding was recorded at both sites and 2 years later kites reared in the wild themselves reared young for the first time.

1995- The first 11 birds in East Midlands were released. The first breeding was recorded in 1997, when 3 pairs bred successfully fledging 8 young. Almost half of the birds released in the Midlands originated from the Chiltern population. 

1996 - 19 red kites (originating from Germany) were released at a site in central Scotland. They first nested in 1998 when two pairs fledged 5 young.

1999 - Red kites were released at Harewood House, north of Leeds, and the first successful breeding took place the following year. 

2000- These early successes justified the next stages of the programme with the aim to produce 5 self-sustaining breeding populations of red kites in Britain. The eventual aim is to ensure that the red kite breeding population expands to colonise all suitable habitat throughout the UK.

2001 - To help the English and Scottish populations to join up, another release site was set up in Dumfries and Galloway. 4 pairs nested there 2 years later. Releases in the Derwent Valley in north-east England started in 2004.


Even today the work with red kites continue, the conservation efforts are ongoing and there is still much work to be done before we can finally say this bird is safe.  However, I think its fair to say that the red kite is a prime example of how we can act and save a species, no matter how bleak the onset looks.