100s of Red Kites but nothing else
Yesterday I was out in the Chilterns and there were just too many red kites to count. The sky was full of them whirling around and it was the most I have ever seen when out that way. I can only assume they were hungry in this cold weather and were taking the opportunity to look for food while there was a lull in wind speed? However I was struck by the lack of other similar birds. The odd seagull was observed but no crows and most of all I did not see, unusually, a single buzzard.
Do red kites drive out other birds????
peedee
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Possibly in large numbers. Well I was not one of those redkites as I cannot fly ha ha.
We have had more of them about this year even breeding around this area, we have see a lot when we go to Villefrance for shopping they seem to like the hills around there.
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The Chilterns' is one of the areas where the remote was reintroduced they have spread over large areas around there. We have had them for several years here ,they do not seem to worry other birds ,we often see them and Buzzerds being mombed by jackdaws and crows, the ring neck parrakeets seem unfased
On a trip up the M40 a couple of years ago OH counted forty or more as we headed to Oxford
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They are fairly common along the A34 corridor from Winchester up to Oxford. The odd one gets spotted right down here around the upper reaches of Portsmouth Harbour too although it's mostly kestrels and a few buzzards.
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I have even seen a few as far north as MK. It would be odd that a reintroduction of variety of bird went so far as to dominate and drive out other varieties. I wonder if the sheer number of Red Kites is becoming a nuisance? We were in a Marlow park a couple of years ago and one tried to steal a chaps lunch out of his hand!
David
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It would be odd that a reintroduction of variety of bird went so far as to dominate and drive out other varieties.
Since I posted the OP I have found at least one report that says other birds are driven out by large numbers of red kites. If this is true then the variety of birds in the Chilterns is definitely at risk.
peedee
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Whilst Red Kites will eat very small live prey they are mainly eaters of carrion. They wouldn't normally take a full sized rabbit whereas a Buzzard would, so in small numbers they tend to co-exist.
However any bird of prey that congregates in large numbers and lives in that space will drive out other BoP. A lone Buzzard will hold it's own in a tussle with a Red Kite as its talons are bigger but RKs will gang up on Buzzards. It shouldn't really affect smaller songbirds etc. as they are not seen as competitors for food. If anything the smaller birds such as Blackbirds etc. shouldn't be prey for RKs unless they are unable to fly away or already dead.
The problem with the introduction of RKs has been that the become used to feeding stations for food so more and more of them are attracted to that area. If the feeding stations are stopped then they will sort themselves out with territories.
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I looked on the RSPB web site and quite a few are lost due to eating rats that have been poisoned, RedKites are avid feeders of carrion.
We see the occasional one down the SW corridor along the A303 but not many have reached us yet. Generally it looks like there is competition for food and some "field food" eg mice aren't doing as well.
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Have seen Red Kites co-exiting alongside Ravens, Rooks and Buzzards for a short time in area when pheasant/partridge shoots take place. They also appear in these areas during lambing time. Most of the aerial squabbles have been rooks or crows trying to oust Buzzards in the same area at any time of year. Never seen more than 4/6 at one time. Must have been quite a site to see so many together.
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What I find strange is.- If I have a dead sheep on my private land with no public access I have to pick it up and dispose of it. The RSPB and others can spread carrion and take paying public in close proximity. The natural food source for the Kites and Buzzards have to be sanitized so the buffer between them and live stock is removed leading to human conflict. Just no logical sense.
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We have lots of Red Kites up here😁 You can often spot a dozen or so around Harrogate/ Knaresborough area, wheeling around. Some farms feed them up here, and they are spreading out further North and South. We do see them in South Yorks, but not in the numbers a bit further up. They are scavengers, so untidy humans and lots of roadkill are making things easy for them to gradually extend their territories. We saw four or five patrolling over A1 North of Wetherby on our way up here last Saturday.
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They are colonising far and wide. I’ve seen them both just south and north of the Humber, from the Lincolnshire Wolds to the North York Moors but never very close to the coast. A real rewilding success story. We humans are a double edged sword mind in such matters. At one extreme our dirty habits help and at the other our despicable acts blast these and other raptors out the skies or poison them. There are those mind who wish to assist such reintroductions in sensible and controlled ways. We can live alongside nature and undo our damage, we just need to be a little more understanding and compromise.
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Add to that East of the Humber, I saw a solitary one flapping & soaring over the Holderness plain a few days ago, none before that mind. They are a super success story👍🏻
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Yes, not in great numbers mind, just a handful seen over the last couple of years, where once we totally eradicated them, now with help they are returning to address nature’s balance. I do worry a little when I see them and other raptors entering the Moors airspace! There are a few despicable people a foot!
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I think we are both of the-‘let nature sort itself out’ school of thought. If left alone too many will be balanced out to sustainable levels. No doubt the RK I saw was on a recce for potential hunting grounds. I’m afraid the prime real estate around here is taken as there are at least 2 pair of Buzzards in my area of the Holderness plain. They are a treat to watch spiralling upwards on Spring thermals calling as they go-it’s a joy👍🏻
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As common as sparrows here in their heart land. We dont artificially feed them ( except I believeat Crigin Farm) so numbers are OK. Coming up past Rheyadr the other day and the huge numbers previouslyseen were not there so perhaps no artificial feeding now.
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We have recently moved into in laws 1930s house were have always kept our caravan, the neighbours on either side each have large leylandii tree at the bottom of their gardens the other evening I was treated to a murmuration of starlings all be it only several hundred the best part was when they split and dropped into each tree
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Yes, R2Bs I do but like with red kites we need to reintroduce some species we previously eradicated. This also entails correcting or making the environment right again for them to establish and then they can recolonise other areas naturally. It’s not many decades ago that red kites were abundant even within our cities.
Out of interest I’ve just got back from Fryup in the NYMs and a buzzard was circling high in the sky. The highlight however was a barn owl which flew alongside the car for about 200 metres before veering off into an old barn on a farm near the Cycle Hub. Beautiful!0 -
A little tale re Barn owls-I live in a really rural area with many really old barns & the population of Barn Owls is healthy-not statistically driven but just what I see👍🏻. Every now & then on the cusp of dusk I see a Barn Owl quartering the meadow at the bottom of my garden & the other full moon night it was goose bump territory. I walked to the bottom of the garden to see if I could see any activity, within a few minutes or so I saw a Barn Owl flying low in the light of the full moon, it was beautiful & very very spooky in a positive way. The name screech Owl we know but Ghost Owl is another that fitted the silent glide over the meadow with the moon being shone on its back I was in awe of that beauty, I’m expecting it’ll be my once in a lifetime marvel.
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I remember in the early 90s we were visiting our in laws in Berkshire and my father in law called us into the garden to see a pair of red kites circling over head. We had never seen one before, over a few years we saw more of them from their garden. Now, as others have said they are a very common site overhead when we are travelling in that area. A true success story. Never seen any near us in Devon though.
As kids we would very often go up to the barn and look for owl pellets, easy to find in those days. Then we would spend ages pulling them apart to sort out the bones, if we found a mouse skull we had struck gold. Easy to occupy kids in those days. But remember my aunt complaining if we forgot to cover the kitchen table with newspaper first!
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Mmmmm, I’ll need to think about that. . .I’m done thinking s*d off😂😂. It wasn’t a hard decision ADP I’ve never suffered your close encounter but we regularly hear the Tawneys having a 4 way hoot off/toowit toowoo off, but it’s from far enough away to not be an issue. If it’s any help there are folk out there who’d love to be that close to nature🤷🏻♂️
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I’m afraid the smaller birds are the shrews & mice of the Avian world🤷🏻♂️
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