Red Kite "attacks" dog!! (1 Viewer)

[Cheshire Birder]

I'm sure many of you will have seen this article - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2135589/Bird-prey-tried-snatch-little-dog-arms.html

Any thoughts?

CB

 

[ZanderII]

Any thoughts?

journalism is dead

 

[pppppvvvv]

Any thoughts?

CB

Yes, If I see that ridiculous photo once more today, I swear I'm going to go mad

 

[Cheshire Birder]

Yes, If I see that ridiculous photo once more today, I swear I'm going to go mad

:t:

CB

 

[Phil Carter]

Ridiculous, as if that's a real dog.

Phil

 

[John B (not the sloop)]

An unfortunate but predictable consequence of selectively breeding dogs about the size of rats........:-O

 

[Helen O]

Interesting no-one ever seems to ask the question 'How did you identify/know it as a red kite'?

 

[Cheshire Birder]

Good job this story didnt surface on Apr 1st.

CB

 

[Helen O]

I had someone call me several time during one week, swearing blind a red kite was tapping on the window at home. I asked why it was a kite, as this was exceptionally unusual behaviour and I was confident it wasn't a kite. The reply was that it was 'very very big and dark' and therefore sure it was a kite.

I suggested tryiing to take a photo of said red kite. Several days later, the person admitted it has been identified as a 'crow' (not sure who identified) .Still, not much difference in size eh…

One lady told me about the red kite chomping on her robin in the garden. Showing me a somewhat grainy photo, I confirmed it was a sparrowhawk.

A concerned lady telephone to tell me her cat had brought in a red kite chick (doesn't matter it was out of the breeding season). It was a (very) young pigeon.

A telephone call telling me a red kite had been hit by a car. No way was it a pheasant, as it was 'huge' and 'I know the difference between a pheasant and a kite'. I drove to the spot. It was a male pheasant. Multiply this phone call/email scenario many times over. That’s not to say kites don’t get killed by traffic, they most certainly do. just not quite as often as those reported to me!

Nothing is as difficult to judge to the untrained eye as size and the behaviour of a bird.

I am not suggesting this didn't happen. I don't know, I wasn't there, but the actions described seem quite unusual. A kite is naturally curious, and will fly low to see what's going on, but to constantly attack - not their typical modus operandi. I suppose there is always an exception to the rule...?

As I say, what was the identifying feature to determine it was a red kite? Perhaps it was another bird species? I don't know.

These journalists would do well to remember the red kite is listed as 'Near Threatened' on the IUCN Red List.

 

[JTweedie]

I'm sure many of you will have seen this article - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2135589/Bird-prey-tried-snatch-little-dog-arms.html

Any thoughts?

CB

I hate the way it's described as a "handbag dog". Sign of the times I suppose...

 

[angusmcoatup]

If it wasn't for the fur I'd be tempted to snack on one of those dogs myself.

 

[Irish Kite]

I'm waiting for some forgotten big brother contestant to shed further light on the feeding habits of Britains raptors - maybe it could become a regular feature for the Daily Mail

 

[Ashley beolens]

Any dog that fits in a handbag is fair game in my opinion.

But seriously a Red Kite attacking a dog?? Hmm... I do wonder.

 

[Wildmoreway]

Small dog, would simply look like a viable meal, if it encourages people to keep their dogs on leads so much the better, we need a Colony of Red Kites in Torbay.

 

[BillN]

I would have thought that a Red Kite would have better taste

 

[Wildmoreway]

I would have thought that a Red Kite would have better taste

They were common scavengers in London back in the middle ages, a large "rat" would have been a cullinary delight to a Red Kite.

On the miss-identification I remember the "Camberwell Beauty's" that my mother kept seeing flying over the garden, they were Peacocks and Red Admirals!

 

[alan_rymer]

Would a Red Kite swoop on a predator species if its nest with eggs/chicks was near?
I know much smaller birds do that. As a child I have been scratched by a Mistle Thrush, and more recently Common Terns etc.

 

[Helen O]

Alan - if anything, kites are extremely vulnerable to human disturbance and can abandon a nest in the early stages. I have never heard of them attacking someone going about their daily business near a nest site. A bit too early for chicks yet!

Interestingly, I received an email about a pair of kites currently nesting where people are going about their daily business with no problems at all - typical of the red kite.

The area she was walking didn't appear to be wooded, whereby she could have walked walked directly under a nest for example - it seems to be in a field.

Any reports of 'gulls' attacking humans in the Home Counties? Just a thought...

 

[lazza]

My father and I had a half day trying out falconry a few years ago, and one of the eagles (I can't remember what it was) was very large indeed. The trainers told us that they would drive to remote places to fly it, because of its tendency to try to catch small dogs if it was flown near habitation....!

 

[ashrich]

Can everyone please note that the dog owner is referred to in the papers as a " model " , things must be a bit slow jobwise at the moment , but at least she got her face in the national press .....

Ashley