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.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
