Scotland's Birds of Prey: the red-tailed kite

The Red Kite is arguably Scotland's most recognisable bird of prey, with it striking, fan-shaped tail and glorious russet colouring.

The kite's effortless aerial displays - sometimes performed by groups of 20 or 30 or even more - are a special sight to behold. With its agile wings and rudder-like tail, the red kite has amazing manoeuvrability, giving its name to the toy kite (in 1664!) and making it one of our most watchable and elegant hunters.

Red kit numbers

Once the most familiar bird of prey in Britain, kites were persecuted as vermin by the 19th century and all but exterminated. Just in the last 30 years, in a joint RSPB/Nature Conservancy Council project, Swedish red kites were re-introduced to several sites across the country and there are now thought to be around 300 pairs in Scotland.

Hunting technique

Red kites are a medium-sized bird of prey with a varied diet that includes small mammals (voles, mice, young rabbits), worms and beetles but mostly features carrion. Kites are commonly seen scavenging on dead game birds and sheep carcasses and it is this natural behaviour that continues to make them vulnerable to illegal killing through poisoning.

When and where and how to see kites in Scotland:

Flocks of red kites tend to circle together in spring or autumn
Communal roosts in secluded woodland during the winter months
Feeding stations across Scotland, including Argaty in Perthshire and Tollie in the Highlands. The flock image, above, was taken at the Dumfries and Galloway site near Laurieston.

Have you seen (or heard) kites in Scotland? Was it at Argaty? Do you have a favourite bird of prey? Or a story to tell about a bird of prey? Please leave a comment below - we'd love to hear from you about this.

Sources

http://www.scottishraptorstudygroup.org/
http://argatyredkites.co.uk/about-red-kites/
Martin, Brian P.: Birds of prey of the British Isles (1992) David & Charles
Thompson, D., Rley, H., and Etheridge, B., Scotland's Birds of Prey (2010) Lomond Books