About Those Birds

Last week, I wrote a post on red kites in England, now I’ve found another article discussing red kites, but this time it’s for Europe.

The main reason red kite populations are declining is because of the overuse of poison. The breeding pair numbers are diminishing because their land has been greatly reduced (by almost 50%). Increased agriculture is also another reason that the populations are declining, but its still mainly poison. These poisons are not for the birds, but for crops to ward off wolves and foxes. However, in some places poison is used for raptors to keep the game bird populations healthy. Red kites scavenge, which means they are more vulnerable to poisons.

Red kite populations declined sharply in Spain, France, and Germany, but as discussed before in this post, the UK has had major increases in red kite populations thanks to a reintroduction program that is quite successful. However, the UK still has problems with intentional and unintentional poisoning of red kites.

There is a Red Kite Action Plan that looks to reduce the numbers of red kite deaths by stopping the use of poison, reduce the risk of red kites scavenging poisoned animals, and improve red kite habitat (like where they breed). Through this plan, red kites may be able to recover throughout the whole of Europe.

Source.

Photo: credit to Flickr user Hobby-Photograph.