Red Kite

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Red Kite, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Green listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Near Threatened
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	Yes
Birds Directive Annex 1	Yes
Listed on the Annexes of	WCA(I,IV), WBD(I), Bern(III), Bonn(II), CITES(II)

Red Kite was historically widespread across Britain but, following widespread persecution, fewer than ten breeding pairs remained by the 1930s and 1940s, concentrated into a small area of mid Wales. Through careful husbandry organised by a 'Kite Committee' of local conservationists and landowners, including RSPB bounties paid to farmers for successful nests during 1922-90, the Welsh population rose to 100 pairs by 1993. Most birds were descended from a single female that had continued to breed successfully during the population bottleneck (Carter 2001). As a step towards restoring the original breeding range, birds were introduced in 1989 into the Chilterns (Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire) and into the Black Isle in Easter Ross (Evans & Pienkowski 1991). Successful breeding populations quickly established in both areas. Further releases were begun in Northamptonshire in 1995, central Scotland in 1996, Yorkshire in 1999, Dumfries & Galloway in 2001, northeast England in 2004, Aberdeen in 2007 and County Down in 2008. Each of these centres has given rise to a productive breeding group, in some cases benefiting from large-scale provision of food (e.g. Orros & Fellowes 2014, 2015) or the development of a well-established communal roost. Introduced birds and their offspring wander widely across Britain and Ireland but, as yet, pairs have been slow to set up breeding sites distant from the release areas (Balmer et al. 2013). BBS sightings have shown a steep rise since 1995. Results from a transect survey specifically targeting Buzzards and Red Kites in central southern England, between 2011 and 2016, showed a doubling of population in the area over that period, broadly in line with the BBS trend (Stevens, M et al. 2020).

Illegal killing is continuing and in northern Scotland the use of poisoned baits deliberately to kill raptors has severely limited the growth of the Red Kite population (Smart et al. 2010, Sansom et al. 2016). Poisoning also still occurs in England and may have slowed the rate of expansion in some areas (Molenaar et al. 2017). Nevertheless, the species was moved to the green list in the UK in 2015 (Eaton et al. 2015).

UK breeding population

+2232% increase (1995–2022)

The breeding distribution maps shown here show the results of extensive reintroduction of Red Kites throughout the UK. Kites have continued to spread and filled many gaps in these maps.

Red Kites are present year-round and now detected on up to 8% of complete lists.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Maximum Age from Ringing	25 years 8 months 28 days (set in 2018)
Typical Lifespan	4 years with breeding typically at 2 year
Adult Survival	0.61
Juvenile Survival	0.5 (in first year)

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

Ring size	G (pulli G or H)*
Field Codes	2-letter: KT | 5-letter code: REDKI | Euring: 2390

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Causes of change

There is little good evidence available regarding the drivers of the breeding population increase in this species in the UK. However, the initial rapid increases following re-introduction to England and Scotland may have been aided by lack of intraspecific competition and the ability of this species to exploit a previously unoccupied habitat.

Further information on causes of change

There is no evidence yet that density-dependent effects have begun to slow the rate of increase.

Information about conservation actions

The Red Kite is currently increasing across many parts of the UK following the successful reintroduction programme and therefore no specific conservation actions are currently required in many areas. However, illegal persecution still occurs in some areas where it is believed to have slowed the recovery of this species, and hence measures to reduce this in these areas may be required to ensure the success of the reintroduction programme continues (Smart et al. 2010).

Artificial feeding of Red Kites in gardens is one measure which can also help support Red Kite populations, although there may be a risk that such food provision may artificially inflate populations to such an extent that they could potentially cause problems if feeding is halted (Orros & Fellowes 2014).

Anticoagulant rodenticides (rat poisons) have been found in some Red Kite carcasses in concentrations sufficient to be considered a contributory cause of death; there is no evidence so far to suggest that this might be affecting the population growth rate but precautions such as prompt removal and safe disposal of poisoned rates, as well as continued monitoring, would be prudent (Walker et al. 2019).

Wind farm turbines have been shown to be a particular threat to raptors including Red Kite in Switzerland (Schaub 2012); hence placement of new wind farms may be important. However, it is unclear whether wind farms are likely to have any significant effect on UK populations as there is currently limited overlap between the distribution of Red Kites and wind farms.