Red kites bred in the United Kingdom are being transported to Spain to save the species’ declining population.
In certain regions of Spain, the raptors are threatened by poisoning and a shortage of food.
The special authorization has been granted for 30 red kites to be taken from England and released in the lonely mountains of southwest Spain.
It is believed that the birds will flourish and reproduce there, so saving the population.
After nearly going extinct in the United Kingdom, the red kite has made a stunning comeback.
In the 1980s and 1990s, a reintroduction program was so effective that the population is now stable enough to maintain this essential conservation work.
In the 1990s, Dr. Ian Evans of Natural England traveled to Spain to capture red kites for release in the Chiltern Hills. He indicated that those returning this week may have Spanish ancestry.
“Those birds we brought from Spain in the 1990s have flourished in Britain; there are now more than 4,000 pairs, which is an unbelievable success story,” he said.
In the 1990s, red kite populations in Spain were thriving compared to those in the United Kingdom, where decades of human persecution, including egg collection, poisoning, and killing, had driven the species to the brink of extinction.
While red kite populations in the United Kingdom have increased, populations in certain regions of southern Spain have decreased due to several factors.
Dr. Evans stated that returning the birds to Spain and releasing them into the wild was necessary to “ensure the future of kites worldwide.”
This week, fifteen red kites will be transported to Madrid for release in Extremadura and Andalusia.
The young birds are just a few weeks old, yet they already have the majority of their feathers and can feed on their own.
Regarding the red kite
The red kite is one of the largest birds of prey in Britain, distinguished by its reddish-brown plumage, long wings, forked tail, and characteristic “mewing” cries.
Once viewed as a menace to game birds and domestic animals such as cats and dogs, the red kite was hunted nearly to extinction in the United Kingdom, and there were once only a handful of nesting pairs in central Wales.
Red kites are predominantly scavengers, preying on carrion and small animals like rabbits.
The first batch of 15 birds has already been released, even though the initiative has been kept secret until now.
Before being released, the birds will polish their flight in aviaries equipped with the most advanced technology for monitoring their adaptation to their new home.
Duncan Orr-Ewing of the RSPB stated that 30 birds will be released this year, with plans to release another 30 birds in each of the next two years.
“Ninety to one hundred birds are required to establish a viable population in a given region,” he explained. This should be adequate to establish a new breeding population of birds.
Red kites are widespread throughout Europe, and their numbers have increased overall in recent years, despite continuing decreases in southern Spain, Portugal, and Germany. The United Kingdom is now home to more than 10 percent of the global red kite population.
The birds being brought to Spain originated in the woodlands of Northamptonshire. Karl Ivans, manager of wildlife rangers for Forestry England, which cares for woods, participated in the initial rescue attempts for British red kites.
“It’s a real honor to have been a part of the project from the very beginning,” he remarked. When you do something nice for the environment and such a marvelous species, you feel tremendous pride.
Several conservation organizations, including the RSPB, Forestry England, Natural England, Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, and Accion por el Mundo Salvaje (Amus) in Spain, collaborate on this initiative.
