Red kite decline sees action plan implemented in North

Nov 20 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

THE successful re-introduction of red kites to the North East has taken on increasing importance because of the huge decline of the bird in Europe.

Numbers on the bird’s main European wintering grounds have halved since 1994 and there have been big falls in the number of breeding pairs in its heartlands of Spain, France and Germany.

So alarming is the drop in numbers that the EU has now adopted a Red Kite Action Plan, produced by the RSPB on behalf of Birdlife International and with the support of red kite experts across Europe.

The greatest threat comes from birds feeding on carcasses that have been illegally laced with agricultural pesticides to control foxes and wolves.

Birds of prey are also deliberately targeted to protect game birds.

In some countries, vole plagues are legally controlled by farmers using large quantities of rodenticides spread out in the open across fields. Red kites then scavenge the dead rodents and become poisoned in turn.

The steep decline in breeding pairs – 40% in Spain and 30% in France and Germany - contrasts sharply with their success in the North East.

Over five years 94 young birds were released in the Derwent Valley and they are now breeding naturally. The first birds bred successfully in 2006, raising the first wild kite to be born in the region for 170 years.

The Northern Kites project was managed by the RSPB and Natural England, in partnership with Gateshead Council, Northumbrian Water, The National Trust and the Forestry Commission, with additional funding from The Heritage Lottery Fund and SITA Trust.

The success of the project means that red kites can be seen every day in the lower Derwent Valley and birds have spread into Northumberland and County Durham.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the region have now seen a bird that until recently was one of the UK’s rarest birds of prey. Experts estimate there could now be more than 30 breeding pairs in the North East.

The completion of the funded phase of the project in July has not meant the end for kite activities in the region.

A volunteer group Friends of Red Kites – in the North East has been established.