Motorway Red Kites (1 Viewer)

[jurek]

Hi,

I noticed that Red Kites frequently patrol roads in Germany and Spain, especially in mornings. No wonder, because they are scavengers, so they presumably pick all the dead animals.

It bugged me for some time, how important is this food source to kites? Who knows? I came to joke that speed limits on motorways cause starvation of Red Kites.

 

[salty]

i think road kill must play a huge part in keeping them well fed - i know they also eat earthworms etc, so a nice piece of rabbit will no doubt be well recieved! has any one witnessed a red kite hunting/killing live prey?

 

[level seven]

I did notice in Spain (Pyrenees) earlier in the year that we seemed to see more Red Kites from the car than any other times

 

[salty]

they must be doing well i take it? - hope our local kites hang around long enough to be a success! theres only about 2 left in the gateshead area, the rest have spread out! hopefully the next batch will settle down, fingers crossed!

 

[helenol]

Yes, the red kite is a scavenger somewhat, their diet consisting of a large amount of carrion. One of the reasons they have been so successful here in the Chilterns is because of the amount of roadkill available around the countryside. They also take worms; a regular sighting of kites is often around fields when farmers are plowing, and allotments.

Red kites will occasionally take live prey, such as small mammals etc., if the opportunity arises, but they don't have the strength to fly off with an adult rabbit etc. They will feed on dead pheasants, lambs, and the like.

They are frequently seen feeding on roadkill at the side of the road, and are surprisingly quick to leave when a car approaches - given their size.

It's quite a rare sight to see kites actually feeding on the ground, although I have seen a dozen or so together in a field feeding on rabbits. The usual scenario is seeing them swooping down to pick up the food.

 

[jurek]

I too, noticed that they pick food in mid-air. I also saw a Raven which landed momentarily on the road, took something and flew off.

I looked in book about Red Kite food. Unfortunately, they list only species eaten, not writing if these were picked on the roads.

 

[helenol]

Regarding the food in mid air, it's not unknown for them to steal food from another bird. They also "play" with items sometimes, I have witnessed this. They pick up something e.g. a small twig or leaf, drop it, letting if fall, then swoop down to pick it up, just before it hits the ground.

 

[Rob Williams]

They certainly make the journey to London on the M40 worthwhile. My best was on returning from Twickenham season before last and saw 13. A magnificent bird.


Rob

 

[me1000]

Do not forget insects,they love them.
me

 

[goodapprentice]

We were driving to Oxford from London and had just passed a sign for the Stokenchurch turn-off when the sky, above a field to the right of the motorway, was filled with a large number of circling Red Kites, anything up the number of twenty or twenty-five. I'm surprised there wasn't an accident as every motorist cannot but have seen them and reacted in some way. It suggested to me a form of backward time travel: one reads accounts of vast numbers of them congregating in the sky over Elizabethan London. A habit, I suppose, which made them such easy targets for hunters. One can look at them as our very own Dodo, but of course, with a happier ending.
Edward

 

[helenol]

Hi goodapprectice -

The exit you talk about on the motorway is my neck of the woods. To the side of that piece of motorway is an allotment and fields, and woodland. This is more or less the "epicentre" of where they were released between 1989 and 1993, and sightings are guaranteed almost 100%. In fact I would go so far as to guarantee 100% sightings. Even during summer, after the breeding season, you can usually see at least one or two of them, nowhere like the numbers you see in autumn or winter though.

They are quite gregarious in nature, and if one kite sees food, they usually all converge! Quite a sight.

 

[goodapprentice]

Hi Helen
You're very fortunate to have such a marvellous opportunity to observe, at such close quarters, a very beautiful bird. It is also an excellent example of positive intervention - I wonder if the Great Bustard experiment on Salisbury Plain will be as successful?
Edward

 

[grmanners]

I learnt about the M40 kites quite early on and started making a point of pulling off and checking the fields when visiting the in-laws in Gloucestershire.

I consider them such a distraction that I invariably stay in the inside lane and drive as slow as I dare between junctions 3 and 7 these days. Can't say I have a 100% record, but it's pretty close, even in driving rain!

Guy

 

[helenol]

Hi Guy, yes I'm just surprised more accidents don't happen on that stretch. Bit of advice if you want, come off at junction 5 then drive down the road to junction 6, about a 5 minute detour, and normally guaranteed good sightings.

Regards

 

[Barred Wobbler]

I've seen a red kite plucking and eating a freshly-killed black winged stilt in Spain. I didn't witness the actual kill but the circumstances and location (saltmarsh near the mouth of the Guadalquivir) strongly indicated to me that the kite had made the kill itself. It used a dead tree as a plucking post and when it had finished it flew up to be joined by a second kite.

 

[Kes]

Only ever seen one Red Kite many years ago in Wales and then it was a mile high (so to speak).

I seem to recall a Bill Oddie program where Kites were thriving in Yorkshire (Leeds area?).
Anyone have confirmation on this?

A lovely looking bird.

 

[helenol]

Hi Kes, they are indeed in Yorkshire. One of the original re-introduction programmes was down here in the Chilterns, between the years '89 and '93. there are now a total of 201 breeding pairs at the moment in the Chilterns.

 

[helenol]

As far as I'm aware, I think there are more than 100 birds now in the Yorkshire area. I stand to be corrected.

 

[Kes]

Aha!!! Strike one in the war against creeping senility!! I knew one of my few remaining grey cells was not playing tricks with me.

Great news! Thankyou, Helen. I hope I can see one again in the near future and hopefully this time a little bit nearer to the 'ol optics!

 

[salty]

our local kites are now (hopefully) settling down 12-14 birds (20 released). out of these 14 or so birds that are staying together, how many/when will they start to breed? 1-2 years?. hopefully the 20 next year will also stay around to boost there chances of survival. seeing as they are mainly scavengers, does that 'up' the chances of these birds breeding well - like crows do?