What time of year do red kites lay eggs?

Breeding timeline The female lays a clutch of 1-3 (occasionally 4) eggs at 3-day intervals in April. She incubates mainly alone for 31-32 days per egg (38 days for a clutch of 3). Incubation starts with the first egg, and so the hatching is spread over several days. The male provides her with food during incubation.

What time do red kites roost?

Kites normally head to the roost shortly before dusk but some may do so any time during the afternoon.

Why do red kites congregate?

Keen scavengers, kites can be spotted over rubbish dumps or looking for roadkill. “You often find them congregating round carrion, which you wouldn’t expect from other birds of prey,” says Grahame Madge from the RSPB. In fact, kites will line nests with anything, including crisp packets.

What is a red kites nest called?

Red Kites usually lay 2-3 eggs. They nest in trees, sometimes building on top of old crows’ nests or squirrel dreys. Nests are often untidy structures, kites having a habit of decorating them with a wide variety of materials.

How do you tell the difference between a male and female red kite?

Males are slightly smaller than females but there is wide overlap. Females have proportionately longer and broader wings. Males tend to have a more deeply notched tail, which they twist and flex more than the females. It is difficult to tell the sexes apart unless you have two to compare directly.

How far do red kites fly?

Kites in England do not usually travel more than about 4km from their roost in order to find food and utilise an area of up to 20-30km2 during the winter.

Will a red kite take a chicken?

They will occasionally take live prey, such as rats, mice, voles and fledgeling birds, but these make up a very small proportion of their diet. Although they do not habitually take larger prey, isolated reports of red kites attempting to take prey such as rabbits, squirrels, chickens and partrigdes have been received.

Would a kite take a kitten?

Kites normally go for smaller mammals like mice or the odd vole. They’re not big birds themselves, I’m not sure they’d stand much of a chance with any cat, never mind a Coonie. This is what I’d always thought too but this was a bit scary as it was definitely checking her out – she was in a wide open area of lawn.

What food do red kites eat?

Red Kites are scavengers and prefer to eat dead animals, road kill. They have been seen to take smaller, softer animals such as mice, voles, rabbits, crows and pigeons but they are fairly weak hunters in comparison to say a buzzard. They also eat invertebrates such as beetles and earth worms, especially in Spring.

How does a red kite build a nest?

Both birds build the nest on a main fork or a limb high in a tree, 12-20m above the ground. It is constructed of dead twigs and lined with grass and sheep’s wool. A couple of days prior to egg laying, kites decorate the nest with rubbish and oddments they find near the nest.

How are red kites tracked in southern England?

This monitoring is done by volunteers from the Southern England Kite Group, who keep records of territorial pairs and known nest sites, as well as details of any red kites spotted with coloured plastic wing tags (especially if the colours and numbers on the tags can be read as this confirms the identity of individual birds).

How often does a red kite lay eggs?

If nesting is successful, the same nest is used the following year. At times they will use an old buzzard or raven nest. The female lays a clutch of 1-3 (occasionally 4) eggs at 3-day intervals in April.

What kind of protection does a red kite have?

Then the anxiety began. These are “schedule 1” birds under the 1981 Wildlife & Countryside Act, meaning that a red kite has year-round protection against disturbance, especially “while it is building a nest or is in, on or near a nest containing eggs or young”. Could the arrival of an extra person at a quiet rural dwelling constitute “disturbance”?

What time of year do red kites lay eggs? Breeding timeline The female lays a clutch of 1-3 (occasionally 4) eggs at 3-day intervals in April. She incubates mainly alone for 31-32 days per egg (38 days for a clutch of 3). Incubation starts with the first egg, and so the hatching is spread over…