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{{short description|Species of bird}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Red kite
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Chibanian|present|ref={{efn|Fossil remains are known from between 130 and 10 thousand years ago.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Milvus milvus |url=https://www.mindat.org/taxon-5229168.html |date=30 Jul 2025|access-date=17 Sep 2025 |website=www.mindat.org |language=en}}</ref>}}}}
| image = Milvus milvus R(ThKraft).jpg
| image_caption = In flight over [[Chemnitz]], [[Saxony]], Germany
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2020 |title=''Milvus milvus'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T22695072A181651010 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22695072A181651010.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Milvus
| species = milvus
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| range_map = Milvus milvus distr02.png
| range_map_caption = Range of ''M. milvus''<br />
{{leftlegend|#00FFFF|Resident|outline=gray}}
{{leftlegend|#00FF00|Summer breeding visitor, some migrating elsewhere during winter|outline=gray}}
| synonyms = ''Falco milvus'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1758}}<br />''Milvus regalis'' {{small|([[Pall.]], 1811)}}<ref name=regalis>{{cite book |last1=Powys, 4th Baron Lilford |first1=Thomas Littleton |author1-link=Thomas Powys, 4th Baron Lilford
|last2=Salvin |first2=Osbert |author2-link=Osbert Salvin 
|last3=Newton |first3=Alfred |author3-link=Alfred Newton
|last4=Keulemans |first4=John Gerrard |author4-link=John Gerrard Keulemans
|date=1885
|title=Coloured figures of the birds of the British Islands
|location=London |publisher=R.&nbsp;H. Porter
|volume=1 |oclc=1029665771 |pages=25f
|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34514829 |access-date=19 May 2020
}} See also: {{cite book | last=Gould |first=John | author-link=John Gould |date=1873 |title=The Birds of Great Britain |volume=I |pages=Plate 22 (and accompanying text) |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/53017879}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Red Kite in Wales.jpg|thumb|Red Kite at Bwlch Nant yr Arian, Wales, a local feeding ground.]]

The '''red kite''' ('''''Milvus milvus''''') is a [[bird of prey]] in the family [[Accipitridae]], which also includes many other [[Diurnality|diurnal]] [[Bird of prey|raptor]]s such as [[eagle]]s, [[buzzard]]s, and [[harrier (bird)|harrier]]s. The species currently breeds only in Europe, though it formerly also bred in [[west Asia]] and [[northwest Africa]].<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/><ref name=bwpc/> Historically, it was only resident in the milder parts of its range in western Europe and northwestern Africa, whereas all or most red kites in northern mainland Europe wintered to the south and west, some also reaching western Asia, but an increasing number of northern birds now remain in that region year-round.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/> [[Vagrancy (biology)|Vagrants]] have reached north to Finland and south to [[Israel]], Libya and [[the Gambia]].<ref name=bwpc/><ref name=Gambia/>

==Etymology==

The English word "kite" is from the [[Old English]] ''cyta'' which is of unknown origin. A kite is mentioned by [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] in his ''[[The Knight's Tale|Knight's Tale]]''. The early 15th century [[Hengwrt Chaucer|Hengwrt manuscript]] contains the lines: "Ther cam a kyte, whil þt they were so wrothe That bar awey the boon bitwix hem bothe." The first recorded use of the word [[kite]] for the human-operated aerial device dates from the 17th century.<ref>{{cite OED | kite |id=103752 }}</ref>

==Taxonomy==
The red kite was described by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1758 in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|10th edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' under the [[Binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Falco milvus''.<ref name=Linnaeus1758/> The word ''milvus'' was the [[Latin]] name for the bird.<ref name=Jobling/> In 1799 the French naturalist [[Bernard Germain de Lacépède]] moved the species to the [[genus]] ''Milvus'' creating the [[tautonym]].<ref name=Lacepede/>

Two [[subspecies]] are recognised:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2018 | title=New World vultures, Secretarybird, kites, hawks, eagles | work=World Bird List Version 8.2 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/raptors/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=24 September 2018 }}</ref>
* ''M. m. milvus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – Europe and Northwest Africa to the Middle East
* ''M. m. fasciicauda'' [[Ernst Hartert|Hartert]], 1914 – the [[Cape Verde|Cape Verde Islands]]

The subspecies ''M. m. fasciicauda'' is almost certainly extinct.<ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Hille | first1=Sabine M. | last2=Collar | first2=Nigel J. | year=2009 | title=The taxonomic and conservation status of ''Milvus'' kites in the Cape Verde archipelago: further (and final?) reflections | journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club | volume=129 | issue=4 | pages=217–221 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47491083 }}</ref>

The genus ''Milvus'' contains two other species: the [[black kite]] (''M. migrans'') and the [[yellow-billed kite]] (''M. aegyptius'').<ref name=ioc/> The red kite has been known to successfully [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridize]] with the black kite in captivity where both species were kept together, and in the wild on the Cape Verde Islands and infrequently in other places.<ref name=Hille2000/>

===Cape Verde Kites===

The red kites on the Cape Verde Islands are (or rather were) quite distinct in [[Morphology (biology)|morphology]], being somewhat intermediate with black kites. The question whether the Cape Verde kite should be considered a distinct [[species]] (''Milvus fasciicauda'') or a red kite subspecies has not been settled. A [[mitochondrial DNA]] study on museum specimens suggested that Cape Verde birds did not form a [[monophyletic]] lineage among or next to red kites.<ref name=Johnson/> This interpretation is problematic: mtDNA analysis is susceptible to hybridization events, the evolutionary history of the Cape Verde population is not known, and the [[Genetics|genetic]] relationship of red kites is confusing, with geographical proximity being no indicator of genetic relatedness and the overall genetic similarity high,<ref name=Schreiber2000/> perhaps indicating a [[Relict (biology)|relict]] species. Given the morphological distinctness of the Cape Verde birds and that the Cape Verde population was isolated from other populations of red kites, it cannot be conclusively resolved as to whether the Cape Verde population was not a distinct subspecies (as ''M. migrans fasciicauda'') or even a species that frequently absorbed stragglers from the migrating European populations into its gene pool. The Cape Verde population became effectively [[extinct]] since 2000, all surviving birds being hybrids with [[black kite]]s.<ref name=Johnson/>

===Hybridisation===

The genus ''Milvus'' contains two other species: the [[black kite]] (''M. migrans'') and the [[yellow-billed kite]] (''M. aegyptius'').<ref name=ioc/> The red kite has been known to successfully [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridize]] with the black kite in captivity where both species were kept together, and in the wild on the Cape Verde Islands and in other places.<ref name=Hille2000/>

A [[hybrid zone]] in which red and black kites occasionally mate exists in Central Europe.<ref name="Heneberg et al kite">{{cite journal |last1=Heneberg |first1=Petr |last2=Dolinay |first2=Matej |last3=Matuší |first3=Hynek |last4=Pfeiffer |first4=Thomas |last5=Nachtigall |first5=Winfried |last6=Bizos |first6=Jiri |last7=Šimčiková |first7=Daniela |last8=Literák |first8=Ivan |title=Conservation of the Red Kite Milvus milvus (Aves: Accipitriformes) Is Not Affected by the Establishment of a Broad Hybrid Zone with the Black Kite Milvus migrans migrans in Central Europe |journal=PLoS ONE |date=2016 |volume=11 |issue=7 |url=https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0159202 |access-date=30 August 2025}}</ref> A genetic study of kites in this area did not demonstrate any [[mtDNA]] from black kites in red kites or vice versa.<ref name="Heneberg et al kite" /> As this DNA is inherited from the mother, the authors of the study which found these results suggested that female F1 hybrids were infertile in accordance with [[Haldane's law]].<ref name="Heneberg et al kite" />

A hybridisation event leading to the successful fledging of two chicks occurred between a male black kite and a female red kite in Scotland in 2006. Scotland is not home to a breeding population of black kites, and it is likely the male was blown off course by a storm or became lost during migration.<ref>{{cite news |title=First for UK as black and red kites produce two young |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/first-for-uk-as-black-and-red-kites-produce-two-young-2511048 |access-date=30 August 2025 |agency=The Scotsman}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:White Red Kite in Flight - geograph.org.uk - 687770.jpg|thumb|right|[[Leucistic]] form]]
[[File:Red Kite (Milvus milvus) skull at the Royal Veterinary College anatomy museum.JPG|thumb|A red kite skull]]
[[File:Obernberg am Inn Adlerwarte Rotmilan-0136.jpg|thumb|Red kite, falconry Adlerwarte Obernberg am Inn, [[Upper Austria]]]]
Red kites are {{convert|60|to|70|cm|in|abbr=on}} long<ref name=Campbell2000/> with a {{convert|175|-|195|cm|in|abbr=on}} wingspan; males weigh {{convert|800|-|1200|g|oz|abbr=on}}, and females {{convert|1000|-|1300|g|oz|abbr=on}}.<ref name=bwpc/> It is an elegant bird, soaring on long wings held at a [[dihedral (aircraft)|dihedral]], and long forked tail, twisting as it changes direction. The body, upper tail and [[covert feather#wing coverts|wing coverts]] are [[rufous]]. The white primary flight feathers contrast with the black wing tips and dark secondaries. Apart from the weight difference, the sexes are similar, but juveniles have a buff breast and belly. Its call is a thin piping sound, similar to but less mewling than the [[common buzzard]]. There is a rare white [[leucistic]] form accounting for approximately 1% of hatchlings in the Welsh population, but this variation confers a disadvantage in the survival stakes.<ref name=whiteredkite/>

===Differences between adults and juveniles===
Adults differ from juveniles in a number of characteristics:
* Adults are overall more deeply [[rufous]], compared with the more washed out colour of juveniles;
* Adults have black breast-streaks whereas on juveniles these are pale;
* Juveniles have a less deeply forked tail, with a dark subterminal band;
* Juveniles have pale tips to all of the greater-coverts (secondary and primary) on both the upper- and under-wings, forming a long narrow pale line; adults have pale fringes to upperwing secondary-coverts only.
These differences hold throughout most of the first year of a bird's life.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

==Behaviour==
===Breeding===
[[File:Milvus milvus MWNH 0750.JPG|thumb|right|Eggs in the natural history collection of the [[Museum Wiesbaden]], Germany]]
[[File:Milmil njg 980613.jpg|thumb|right|Juveniles at nest, Berlin]]
Usually red kites first breed when they are two years old, although exceptionally they can successfully breed when they are only one year old.{{sfn|Cramp|1980|p=43}}<ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Newton | first1=I. | last2=Davis | first2=P.&nbsp;E. | last3=Davis | first3=J.&nbsp;E. | year=1989 | title=Age of first breeding, dispersal and survival of Red Kites ''Milvus milvus'' in Wales | journal=Ibis | volume=131 | issue=1 | pages=16–21 | doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1989.tb02738.x }}</ref><ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Evans | first1=I.&nbsp;M. | last2=Cordero | first2=P.&nbsp;J. | last3=Parkin | first3=D.&nbsp;T. | year=1998 | title=Successful breeding at one year of age by Red Kites ''Milvus milvus'' in southern England | journal=Ibis | issue=1 | volume=140 | pages=53–57 | doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1998.tb04540.x }}</ref> They are [[Monogamy in animals|monogamous]] and the pair-bond in {{Birdgloss|resident}} populations is probably maintained during the winter, particularly when the pair remain on their breeding territory. For migrant populations the fidelity to a particular nesting site means that the pair-bond is likely to be renewed each breeding season.{{sfn|Cramp|1980|p=40}} The nest is normally placed in a fork of a large hardwood tree at a height of between {{cvt|12|and|15|m}} above the ground. A pair will sometimes use a nest from the previous year and can occasionally occupy an old nest of the [[common buzzard]].{{sfn|Cramp|1980|p=42}} The nest is built by both sexes. The male brings dead twigs {{cvt|30|-|50|cm}} in length which are placed by the female. The nest is lined with grass and sometimes also with sheep's wool. Unlike the black kite, no greenery is added to the nest. Both sexes continue to add material to the nest during the incubation and nestling periods. Nests vary greatly in size and can become large when the same nest is occupied for several seasons.{{sfn|Cramp|1980|p=43}}

The eggs are laid at three-day intervals. The [[Clutch (eggs)|clutch]] is usually between one and three eggs but four and even five eggs have occasionally been recorded. The eggs are non-glossy with a white ground and red-brown spots. The average size is {{cvt|57|x|45|mm}} with a calculated weight of {{cvt|63|g}}.{{sfn|Cramp|1980|p=43}} In Britain and central Europe, laying begins at the end of March but in the Mediterranean area laying begins in early March.{{sfn|Cramp|1980|p=42}} The eggs are mainly incubated by the female, but the male will relieve her for short periods while she feeds. The male will also bring food for the female. Incubation starts as soon as the first egg is laid. Each egg hatches after 31 to 32 days but as they hatch asynchronously a clutch of three eggs requires 38 days of incubation. The chicks are cared for by both parents. The female {{Birdgloss|brood|broods}} them for the first 14 days while the male brings food to the nest which the female feeds to the chicks. Later both parents bring items of food which are placed in the nest to allow the chicks to feed themselves. The nestlings begin climbing onto branches around their nest from 45 days but they rarely {{Birdgloss|fledge}} before 48–50 days and sometimes not until they are 60–70 days of age. The young spend a further 15–20 days in the neighbourhood of the nest being fed by their parents. Only a single brood is raised each year but if the eggs are lost the female will relay.{{sfn|Cramp|1980|p=43}}

The maximum age recorded is 25 years and 8 months for a ringed bird in Germany.<ref name=euring>{{cite web |title=European Longevity Records |url=https://euring.org/data-and-codes/longevity-list?page=1 |publisher=Euring |access-date=14 October 2018 |archive-date=15 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015002827/https://euring.org/data-and-codes/longevity-list?page=1 }}</ref> The [[British Trust for Ornithology|BTO]] longevity record for Britain and Ireland is also 25 years and 8 months for a bird found dead in Buckinghamshire in 2018.<ref name=bto>{{cite web| title = Summary of Ringing Totals - Longevity records 2021 | url =https://app.bto.org/ring/countyrec/results2021/longevity.htm | publisher = [[British Trust for Ornithology]] | access-date = 31 July 2023 }}</ref> In 2023, one of the first red kites reintroduced to the UK was found injured in Oxfordshire and later died, aged 29.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-65646200 | title = One of the first red kites released into Thames Valley dies | date = 20 May 2023 | work = BBC News | access-date = 31 July 2023}}</ref>

===Food and feeding===
[[File:Red Kite - Gigrin Farm (10359058775).jpg|thumb|Side view of adult, Wales]]
The red kites are generalist scavengers and predators. Their diets consist mainly of carrion of large domestic animals such as [[sheep]] and [[pig]]s, roadkill, and stranded fish.<ref name = Ferguson>Ferguson-Lees, James, and David A. Christie. Raptors of the world. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001.</ref><ref>J. T. GARCÍA; J. VIÑUELA; C. SUNYER (1998). Geographic variation of the winter diet of the Red Kite <em>Milvus milvus</em> in the Iberian Peninsula., 140(2), 302–309.</ref> They also take small [[mammal]]s such as [[Mouse|mice]], [[vole]]s, [[shrew]]s, [[stoat]]s, young [[hare]]s and [[rabbit]]s.<ref name = Ferguson/><ref>Wildman, L., L. O'Toole, and R. W. Summers. "The diet and foraging behaviour of the Red Kite in northern Scotland." Scottish Birds 19 (1998): 134-140.</ref><ref>Korpimäki, Erkki, and Kai Norrdahl. "Avian predation on mustelids in Europe 1: occurrence and effects on body size variation and life traits." Oikos (1989): 205-215.</ref> Live [[bird]]s are also taken, especially young or wounded, such as [[crow]]s, [[dove]]s, [[starling]]s, [[thrush (bird)|thrushes]], [[lark]]s, [[gull]]s, and [[waterfowl]].<ref name = Ferguson/> Occasionally [[reptiles]] and [[amphibians]] are taken and invertebrates such as [[earthworm]]s form an important part of the diet, especially in [[spring (season)|spring]].<ref name=Pugh/> In some parts of the United Kingdom, red kites are also deliberately fed in domestic [[garden]]s, explaining the presence of red kites in [[Urban area|urban]] areas.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last1=Orros|first1=Melanie E.|last2=Fellowes|first2=Mark D.&nbsp;E.|year=2015|title=Widespread supplementary feeding in domestic gardens explains the return of reintroduced Red Kites ''Milvus milvus'' to an urban area |journal=Ibis|language=en|volume=157|issue=2|pages=230–238|doi=10.1111/ibi.12237|pmid=25937644|pmc=4409027| doi-access=free}}</ref> Here, up to 5% of householders have provided supplementary food for red kites, with [[chicken]] being the predominant meat provided.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Orros|first1=Melanie E.|last2=Fellowes|first2=Mark D.&nbsp;E.| year=2014|title=Supplementary feeding of the reintroduced Red Kite ''Milvus milvus'' in UK gardens |journal=Bird Study | volume=61|issue=2|pages=260–263|doi=10.1080/00063657.2014.885491 | doi-access=free}}</ref>

As scavengers, red kites are particularly susceptible to poisoning. Illegal poison baits set for foxes or crows are indiscriminate and kill protected birds and other animals.<ref name=yorkshireredkites/> There have also been a number of incidents of red kites and other raptors being targeted by wildlife criminals.<ref name=Carrell2014/><ref name=HeraldSeries/>

On occasion, red kites may directly steal food from humans.<ref>{{cite news |date=31 July 2023 |title=Red kite awareness campaign after reports of stolen food |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-66360726 |access-date=12 August 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> One such occurrence took place in [[Marlow, Buckinghamshire|Marlow]], [[Buckinghamshire]] (a town near a major reintroduction site for the species in the UK in the nearby village of [[Stokenchurch]]), in which red kites swooped down to steal sandwiches from people in one of the town's parks.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Trivedi |first1=Shruti |title=Fresh warning over red kite 'attacks' in Higginson Park, Marlow |url=https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/16190370.Fresh_warning_over_red_kite____attacks____in_popular_park/ |website=[[Bucks Free Press]] Online |date=27 April 2018 |publisher=[[Bucks Free Press]] |access-date=9 October 2018}}</ref>

==Distribution and status==
[[File:Red Kite, Spain.jpg|thumb|right|Red kite in flight in Gredos Mountains, Avila, Spain]]
Red kites inhabit broadleaf woodlands, pastures, mixed farmland, valleys and wetland edges, up to at least {{convert|1600|m|ft}} elevation.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/> They are native to the western [[Palearctic]], with all of the currently known 32,200–37,700 breeding pairs being in Europe.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/> There also used to be breeding populations in western Asia (northern Iran, Syria and Turkey) and northwestern Africa (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia), but most of these were extirpated in the 19th century or earlier;<ref name=Evans1991/> the only non-European breeding population in recent decades was in Morocco where the last known pair was in 2004.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/> Today it breeds from Portugal and Spain, through the central part of the continent east to [[European Russia]], north to southern [[Scandinavia]], Latvia and the United Kingdom, and south to southern Italy; few if any breeders remain in the [[Balkans]].<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/><ref name=Evans1991>{{cite journal | last1=Evans | first1=I.&nbsp;M. | last2=Pienkowski | first2=M.&nbsp;W. | year=1991 | title=World status of the Red Kite | journal=Brit. Birds | volume=94 | pages=171–187 }}</ref> Most red kites that breed in the northern European mainland used to move south or west in winter, typically wintering in Spain and other parts of western Europe with a mild climate, as well as northwestern Africa (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) and Turkey. In recent decades, an increasing number of red kites from the northern European mainland have stayed in the region year-round.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/>

The populations in Germany (which alone is home to almost half of the world's breeding pairs), France and Spain declined between 1990 and 2000, and overall the species declined by almost 20% over those ten years. Populations in Germany and France have subsequently stabilised, and because of growth in other countries, the overall population is now increasing.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/> The main threats to red kites are poisoning, through illegal direct poisoning and indirect poisoning from pesticides, particularly in the wintering ranges in France and Spain, and changes in agricultural practices causing a reduction in food resources. Other threats include electrocution, hunting and trapping, deforestation, egg-collection (on a local scale) and possibly competition with the generally more successful black kite ''M. migrans''.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />

===Continental Europe===
German populations declined by 25%–30% between 1991 and 1997, but have remained stable since. The populations of the northern foothills of the [[Harz Mountains]] (the most densely populated part of its range) suffered an estimated 50% decline from 1991 to 2001. In Spain, the species showed an overall decline in breeding population of up to 43% for the period 1994 to 2001–02, and surveys of wintering birds in 2003–04 suggest a similarly large decline in core wintering areas. The [[Balearic Island]]s population has declined from 41 to 47 breeding pairs in 1993 to just 10 in 2003. In France, breeding populations have decreased in the northeast, but seem to be stable in southwest and central France and [[Corsica]]. Populations elsewhere are stable or undergoing increases. In Sweden, the species has increased from 30 to 50 pairs in the 1970s to 1,200 breeding pairs in 2003 and has continued growing. In Switzerland, populations have been increasing since the 1990s.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> Red kites have declined in their traditional strongholds of Spain, France and Germany; while now stable in the last two countries, those populations remain well below their historical peaks.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> In contrast, red kite populations are increasing in parts of northern Europe, such as Denmark, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /><ref name=WelshKiteTrust/><ref name="RK DK">{{cite news|title=Fugleart sætter rekord i Danmark: – Det er helt fantastisk|url=https://nyheder.tv2.dk/lokalt/2022-01-11-fugleart-saetter-rekord-i-danmark-det-er-helt-fantastisk|publisher=TV2|date=11 January 2022}}</ref> The red kite is the official landscape bird of the Swedish province of [[Scania]],<ref>{{cite web| title=Landskapssyboler | url=https://www.lansstyrelsen.se/download/18.840e7ca163033c061f4d7c7/1526068697249/landskapsymboler_alla.pdf | publisher=lansstyrelsen.se | access-date=30 July 2023 }}</ref> and depicted on the coat of arms of the municipality of [[Tomelilla]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Grafisk handbok – Tomelilla kommun | url=https://www.tomelilla.se/fileadmin/tomelilla/kommun_och_politik/pressinfo/pdf/Grafisk_handbok.pdf | publisher=tomelilla.se | access-date=30 July 2023 | archive-date=9 January 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109103307/https://www.tomelilla.se/fileadmin/tomelilla/kommun_och_politik/pressinfo/pdf/Grafisk_handbok.pdf }}</ref>

===United Kingdom===
[[File:Red Kite - Gigrin Farm Wales (10489884433).jpg|thumb|Red kite, Gigrin Farm, Wales]]
[[File:Kites at the table. - geograph.org.uk - 582274.jpg|thumb|Red kites at the feeding station, [[Laurieston, Glasgow]], Scotland.]]
[[File:Red kite soaring uk webm.webm|thumb|A red kit soaring in Hampshire, UK]]
In the United Kingdom, red kites were ubiquitous scavengers that lived on carrion and rubbish.{{citation needed|date=June 2022|reason=unsubstantiated}} Shakespeare's [[King Lear]] describes his daughter [[Goneril]] as a ''detested kite'', and he wrote "when the kite builds, look to your lesser linen" in reference to them stealing washing hung out to dry in the nesting season.<ref name=Radio4/> In the mid-15th century, [[King James II of Scotland]] decreed that they should be "killed wherever possible", but they remained protected in England and Wales for the next 100 years as they kept the streets free of carrion and rotting food.<ref name=NewKay/> Under Tudor "vermin laws" many creatures were seen as competitors for the produce of the countryside and bounties were paid by the parish for their carcasses.<ref name=McCarthy2007/>

By the 20th century, the breeding population was restricted to a handful of pairs in [[South Wales]], but recently the Welsh population has been supplemented by re-introductions in England and Scotland. In 2004, from 375 occupied territories identified, at least 216 pairs were thought to have hatched eggs and 200 pairs reared at least 286 young.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> In 1989, six Swedish birds were released at a site in north Scotland and four Swedish and one Welsh bird in [[Buckinghamshire]].<ref name="RSPB conservation"/> Altogether, 93 birds of Swedish and Spanish origin were released at each of the sites. In the second stage of reintroduction in 1995 and 1996, further birds were brought from Germany to populate areas of [[Dumfries and Galloway]]. Between 2004 and 2006, 94 birds were brought from the Chilterns and introduced into the [[River Derwent, North East England|Derwent Valley]] in north East England.<ref name="RSPB conservation"/> In Northern Ireland, 80 birds from wild stock in Wales were released between 2008 and 2010, and the first successful breeding was recorded in 2010. The reintroductions in [[the Chilterns]] [[Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty]] have been a success. Between 1989 and 1993, 90 birds were released there and by 2002, 139 pairs were breeding.<ref name=Chilterns/> They can commonly be seen taking advantage of thermals from the [[M40 motorway]].<ref name=McCarthy2/> Another successful reintroduction has been in [[Northamptonshire]], which has become a stronghold for the red kite.<ref name=birdguides/> Thirty Spanish birds were introduced into [[Rockingham Forest]] near [[Corby]] in 2000,<ref name=northantset/> and by 2010, the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds|RSPB]] estimated that over 200 chicks had been reared from the initial release. So successful has the reintroduction been that 30 chicks have been transported from Rockingham Forest for release in [[Cumbria]].<ref name=BBC/> From the Chilterns they have spread as far east as [[Essex]] and can be seen over [[Harlow]]. By 2021 they had spread along the M4 as far as the Cotswold Edge overlooking the Severn near Bristol.

A sighting of the first red kite in London for 150 years was reported in ''[[The Independent]]'' newspaper in January 2006<ref name=McCarthy2006/> and in June of that year, the UK-based Northern Kites Project reported that kites had bred in the Derwent Valley in and around [[Rowlands Gill]], [[Tyne and Wear]] for the first time since the re-introduction.<ref name=BBC2006/>

In 1999, the red kite was named 'Bird of the Century' by the [[British Trust for Ornithology]].<ref name=Radio4/> According to the Welsh Kite Trust, it has been voted "Wales's favourite bird".<ref name=WalesFavBird/>

In June 2010, the [[Forestry Commission]] North West England announced a three-year project to release 90 red kites in [[Grizedale Forest]], [[Cumbria]] under a special licence issued by [[Natural England]]. The Grizedale programme was the ninth reintroduction of red kites into different regions of the UK and the final re-introduction phase in England.<ref name=WestmorlandGazette/>

The stated aims of the Grizedale project were:
* To establish a viable population of red kites in Grizedale, South Cumbria by 2015.
* To increase the rate of red kite expansion into North West England and link up with existing populations in Wales, Yorkshire, North East England and South West Scotland and so increase the chances of a continuous geographical range.
* To develop community involvement and create educational opportunities arising from the project.<ref name="FC Poster"/>

As of July 2011, non-breeding birds are regularly seen in all parts of Britain, and the number of breeding pairs is too large for the RSPB to continue to survey them on an annual basis.<ref name=rspb2/>

In the 2020s, the UK kite population was deemed stable enough that, beginning in 2022, a small number of chicks have been taken to Spain to help recover populations there.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Da Costa |first1=Katharine |title=Back from the brink: UK red kites aid Spanish cousins |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crrez8x7l55o |website=BBC News |access-date=11 November 2025}}</ref>

===Ireland===
Red kites were extinct in Ireland by the middle 19th century due to persecution, poisoning and woodland clearance. In May 2007, [[Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government|Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government]] [[Dick Roche]] announced an agreement to bring at least 100 birds from Wales to restock the population as part of a five-year programme in the [[Wicklow Mountains]], similar to the earlier [[golden eagle]] reintroduction programme.<ref name=NDP/> On 19 July 2007, the first 30 red kites were released in [[County Wicklow]].<ref name=environ.ie/><ref name=wildlifeextra/> On 22 May 2010, two newly hatched red kite chicks were discovered in the Wicklow Mountains,<ref name=Melia2010/> bringing the number of chicks hatched since reintroduction to seven.<ref name=goldeneagle/>

===Populations and trends by country===
[[File:Young Red Kite.jpg|thumb|A young red kite in [[Cookham]], [[Berkshire]].]]
The following figures (mostly estimates) have been collated from various sources.<ref name=bwpc/><ref name=Carter2001/>{{sfn|Cramp|1980|p=38}}<ref name=holloway/><ref name=rspb/><ref name=Carter09/><ref>Bstian, M., 2016. Soaring kites in Luxembourg... for how much longer? In: 33e réunion annuelle des collaborateurs scientifiques du Musée national d'histoire naturelle, Luxembourg 19 March 2016. Programm and Abstracts.</ref> They cover most of the countries in which red kites are believed to have bred.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Country
! Year
! Pairs
! Trend
! Notes
|-
| {{flagcountry|Albania}}
|
| 0
| {{unknown}}
| Bred 1906
|-
| {{flagcountry|Algeria}}
|
| 0
| {{unchanged}}
| Bred in the 19th century, now extinct
|-
| {{flagcountry|Austria}}
| 2019
| 90–130
| {{increase}}
| Extinct 1950, recolonised 1970s; 5–10 pairs in 2000 and since then rapidly increasing<ref>{{cite journal | last=Uhl | first=H. | year=2019 | title=Artenschutzprojekt für den Rotmilan (Milvus milvus) und dessen Wiederbesiedlung Oberösterreichs | journal=Vogelkdl. Nachr. Österreich | volume=27 | pages=37–54 }}</ref>
|-
| {{flagcountry|Belarus}}
| 1997
| 1
| {{unknown}}
| Extinct 1950s, recolonised 1985; 10 pairs 1990
|- 
| {{flagcountry|Belgium}}
| 2020
| 350–400
| {{increase}}
| Declined to 1–2 known pairs in 1967, then recovery<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />
|- 
| {{flagcountry|Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
| 
| 0
| {{unknown}}
| &nbsp;
|-
| {{flagcountry|Bulgaria}}
| 
| 0
| {{unknown}}
| May breed but no proof
|-
| {{flagcountry|Canary Islands}}
| 
| 0
| {{unchanged}}
| Extinct 1970s
|-
| {{flagcountry|Cape Verde}}
| 2000
| 1?
| {{decrease}}
| 50–75 pairs late 1980s; effectively extinct
|-
| {{flagcountry|Croatia}}
| 
| 0
| {{unknown}}
| 2–5 pairs 1980s
|-
| {{flagcountry|Czech Republic}}
| 2013
| 165–185
| {{increase}}
| Extinct late 19th century, recolonised 1975
|-
| {{flagcountry|Denmark}}
| 2021
| 300–350<ref>{{cite web| title=Fokus på røde rovfugle: Rød glente fortsætter sin fremgang i Danmark | url=https://www.dof.dk/om-dof/nyheder?nyhed_id=2035 | date=3 January 2021 | publisher=[[Dansk Ornitologisk Forening]] (Danish Ornithological Society) | access-date=26 June 2022 }}</ref>
| {{increase}}
| Extinct c. 1920, then recolonised (from Germany/Sweden) 1970s. Slow increase up until the early 2000s (17 known pairs in 2001), since then rapidly increasing<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />
|-
| {{flagcountry|England}}
| 2011
| c. 2,000
| {{increase}}
| Extinct 1870s, reintroduced 1989–1992, recovering
|-
| {{flagcountry|Estonia}}
| 1989
| <1
| {{unknown}}
| &nbsp;
|-
| {{flagcountry|France}}
| 2018
| 3,000–3,900
| {{unchanged}}
| Rapidly declined from the 1980s until around 2010, since then stable or perhaps increasing locally<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />
|-
| {{flagcountry|Germany}}
| 2018
| 14,000–16,000
| {{unchanged}}
| 15,000–25,000 pairs 1980s; declined up until around 2000, populations subsequently stabilised<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />
|-
| {{flagcountry|Greece}}
| 
| 0
| {{unchanged}}
| &nbsp;
|-
| {{flagcountry|Hungary}}
| c. 1998
| 1+
| {{decrease}}
| 30 pairs 1950s
|-
| {{IRL}}
| 2010
| 7
| {{increase}}
| First successful breeding reported in 2010 following reintroduction in 2007
|-
| {{flagcountry|Italy}}
| c. 2002
| 300–400
| {{increase}}
| 70–150 pairs late 1980s. Clear increase in the mainland in recent decades, but almost extirpated in [[Sicily]]<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />
|-
| {{flagcountry|Latvia}}
| 1992
| 0–50
| {{increase}}
| Extinct 1964, then recolonised
|-
| {{flagcountry|Lithuania}}
| 1988
| 1–2
| {{increase}}
| Extinct, then recolonised 1981
|-
| {{flagcountry|Luxembourg}}
| 2015
| 90
| {{increase}}
| &nbsp;
|-
| {{flagcountry|Moldova}}
| 1990
| 1
| {{unknown}}
| &nbsp;
|-
| {{flagcountry|Montenegro}}
| 1995
| 0
| {{unknown}}
| &nbsp;
|-
| {{flagcountry|Morocco}}
| 2020
| 0
| {{unchanged}}
| Last breeding pair in 2004; rare winter visitor<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/>
|-
| {{flagcountry|Netherlands}}
| 2018
| 15–20<ref>{{cite news | title=Zeldzame rode wouw nestelt bij Deventer | url=https://www.destentor.nl/deventer/zeldzame-rode-wouw-nestelt-bij-deventer~a2914da3/ | date=13 June 2018 | publisher=Dagblad De Stentor | access-date=30 July 2023 }}</ref>
| {{increase}}
| Extinct 1852, recolonised 1970s, but highly irregular until 2008, since then regular and increasing
|-
| {{flagcountry|Northern Ireland|union}}
| 2010
| 5
| {{increase}}
| First successful breeding reported in 2010 following reintroduction in 2008
|-
| {{flagcountry|North Macedonia}}
| 
| 0
| {{unknown}}
| &nbsp;
|-
| {{flagcountry|Norway}}
| 1980
| 0
| {{unchanged}}
| Bred occasionally in the 19th century
|-
| {{flagcountry|Poland}}
| 2012
| 1,500–1,800<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />
| {{increase}}
| 400–450 pairs 1980s
|-
| {{flagcountry|Portugal}}
| c. 1995
| 100–200
| {{decrease}}
| Appears to have rapidly decreased in recent decades, but accurate data lacking<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/>
|-
| {{flagcountry|Romania}}
| 1995
| 15–20
| {{unknown}}
| &nbsp;
|-
| {{flagcountry|Russia}}
| 1992
| 0–50
| {{unknown}}
| &nbsp;
|-
| {{flagcountry|Scotland}}
| 2009
| 135
| {{increase}}
| Extinct 1886, reintroduced 1989–1992
|-
| {{flagcountry|Serbia}}
| 
| 
| {{unknown}}
| &nbsp;
|-
| {{flagcountry|Slovakia}}
| 1992
| 10–20
| {{unknown}}
| &nbsp;
|-
| {{flagcountry|Spain}}
| 2018
| 2,312–2,440
| {{decrease}}
| 10,000 pairs 1977
|-
| {{flagcountry|Sweden}}
| 2021
| 4,000–5,000<ref>{{cite web| title=Röd glada | url=https://cdn.birdlife.se/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Fagelaret-2019_fagelrapporten.pdf | publisher=BirdLife Sverige) | access-date=14 September 2025 }}</ref>
| {{increase}}
| Increase from the low-point of 30–50 pairs in the 1970s<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />
|-
| {{flagcountry|Switzerland}}
| 2013–2016
| 2,800–3,500
| {{increase}}
| Declined 19th century, later recovery; 235–300 pairs in the late 1980s, 800–1,000 pairs in 1995.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Tunisia}}
| 
| 0
| {{unchanged}}
| Bred in the 19th century, now extinct
|-
| {{flagcountry|Turkey}}
| 
| 0
| {{unknown}}
| May have bred in past but no firm evidence
|-
| {{flagcountry|Ukraine}}
| 1990
| 5–8
| {{decrease}}
| &nbsp;
|-
| {{flagcountry|Wales}}
| 2009
| c. 1,000
| {{increase}}
| Declined to two pairs in the 1930s, then recovery
|}

==Observation==
<!-- 
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Note to editors:

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One of the best places to see the red kite in [[Scandinavia]] is [[Scania]] in southern Sweden. It may be observed in one of its breeding locations such as the [[Kullaberg]] Nature Preserve near [[Mölle]].<ref name=Hogan2005/> In Switzerland, they are a common sight in all rural areas, excluding the [[Alps]] and its foothills.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Some of the best places to see them in the United Kingdom are Gigrin Farm near [[Rhayader]], [[mid Wales]], where hundreds are fed by the local farmer as a tourist attraction,<ref name=gigrin/> a Red Kite Feeding Station at [[Llanddeusant, Carmarthenshire|Llanddeusant]] in the [[Brecon Beacons]], visited daily by over 50 birds,<ref>{{cite web|website=Red Kites Wales| title= Brecon Beacons Feeding Station|url=https://redkiteswales.co.uk/|access-date=8 February 2023}}</ref> and the Bwlch Nant yr Arian forest visitor centre in [[Ceredigion]]<ref name=nantyrarian/> where the rare [[leucistic]] variant can be seen.<ref name=Melton2008/> In England, the [[Oxfordshire]] part of the [[Chilterns]] has many red kites, especially near [[Henley-on-Thames]] and [[Watlington, Oxfordshire|Watlington]], where they were introduced on [[John Paul Getty Jr.|John Paul Getty]]'s estate.<ref name=Chilterns/> Red Kites are also becoming common across the border in [[Buckinghamshire]], often being seen near [[Stokenchurch]], where a population was released in the 1990s, and [[Flackwell Heath]] near [[High Wycombe]]. They can also be seen around [[Harewood, West Yorkshire|Harewood]] near Leeds where they were re-introduced in 1999.<ref name=Harewood/> In Ireland they can be best observed at Redcross, near [[Avoca, County Wicklow]].{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

==See also==
* [[Beheading the Kite]]
* [[Shite-hawk]]

==Footnotes==
{{noteslist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=BBC>{{cite news |title=Red kite chicks from Northamptonshire released to wild |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-11004972 |access-date=4 August 2011 |work=BBC News |date=17 August 2010}}</ref>

<ref name=BBC2006>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/tyne/5084800.stm |work=BBC News |title=Delight as red kite chicks hatch |date=16 June 2006 |access-date=27 October 2006}}</ref>

<ref name=birdguides>{{cite journal |title=RSPB Red Kite numbers are soaring across the UK |journal=Birdguides |date=15 September 2008 |url=http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=1435 |access-date=4 August 2011}}</ref>

<ref name=bwpc>{{cite book |last1=Snow |first1=D.&nbsp;W. |last2=Perrins |first2=C.&nbsp;M. |year=1998 |title=The Birds of the Western Palearctic |edition=Concise |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-854099-1|title-link=The Birds of the Western Palearctic }}</ref>

<ref name=Campbell2000>{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=David |title=The Encyclopedia of British Birds |year=2000 |publisher=Parragon |location=Bath |isbn=978-0-7525-4159-4 |page=118 |chapter=Red Kite}}</ref>

<ref name=Carrell2014>{{cite news |last1=Carrell |first1=Severin |title=Scottish bird of prey colony hit by mass poisonings |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/03/scottish-birtd-of-prey-colony-mass-poisonings |access-date=12 December 2014 |work=The Guardian |date=3 April 2014}}</ref>

<ref name=Carter09>Carter, Ian (2009): The Red Kite. presentation to the Cambridgeshire Bird Club, Cambridge, UK, 13 November 2009.</ref>

<ref name=Carter2001>{{cite book |last=Carter |first=Ian |year=2001 |title=The Red Kite |publisher=Arlequin Press |location=Chelmsford, UK }}</ref>

<ref name=Chilterns>{{cite web |url=http://www.chilternsaonb.org/downloads/farm_birds_survey.pdf |title=Breeding Bird Survey of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 2002 |last=Schurmer |first=Michael |date=November 2002 |publisher=RSPB |access-date=26 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613151528/http://www.chilternsaonb.org/downloads/farm_birds_survey.pdf |archive-date=13 June 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name=environ.ie>{{cite web|url=http://www.environ.ie/en/Heritage/NationalParksandWildlife/News/MainBody,5384,en.htm |title=Red Kite Reintroduction Project in Wicklow |date=21 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927120707/http://www.environ.ie/en/Heritage/NationalParksandWildlife/News/MainBody%2C5384%2Cen.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="FC Poster">{{cite web |url=http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/englandnweredkiteinfoposters.pdf/$FILE/englandnweredkiteinfoposters.pdf |title=Grizedale Red Kite Project |work=Forestry Commission information posters |publisher=Forestry commission |access-date=12 July 2010 |archive-date=12 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012122724/http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/englandnweredkiteinfoposters.pdf/$FILE/englandnweredkiteinfoposters.pdf }}</ref>

<ref name=Gambia>{{cite book |last1=Barlow |first1=C. |last2=Wacher |first2=T. |last3=Disley |first3=T. |year=1997 |title=A Field Guide to Birds of the Gambia and Senegal |publisher=Pica Press |location=Mountfield, UK |isbn=978-1-873403-32-7}}</ref>

<ref name=gigrin>{{cite web |url=http://www.gigrin.co.uk |title=Red Kite Feeding Station&nbsp;— Gigrin Farm |access-date=27 October 2006}}</ref>

<ref name=goldeneagle>{{cite web |url=http://www.goldeneagle.ie/news_viewnews.php?x=3&z=44&news_id=9&article=277 |title=Golden Eagle Trust &#124; Red Kite &#124; Project Updates |publisher=Goldeneagle.ie |access-date=28 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305215209/http://www.goldeneagle.ie/news_viewnews.php?x=3&z=44&news_id=9&article=277 |archive-date=5 March 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name=Harewood>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/handsonnature/estates/harewood.shtml |title=Birder watchers' paradise |work=BBC Hands on Nature |publisher=BBC |pages=Parks: Harewood Estate |access-date=26 October 2009}}</ref>
<!-- not referenced in article; hidden to prevent <ref> error
<ref name=dofbasen>{{cite web|title=Danmarks Fugle|url=https://dofbasen.dk/danmarksfugle/|access-date=8 February 2023|website=dofbasen.dk|language=da}}</ref>-->

<!--(replaced by ref name=dofbasen)<ref name=Hjembaek2009>{{cite web |first=Gert |last=Hjembæk |url=http://www.dof.dk/index.php?id=nyheder&s=nyheder&m=visning&nyhed_id=690 |publisher=[[Dansk Ornitologisk Forening]] |title=Den røde drage bliver hængende i Danmark |trans_title=The red dragon lingers in Denmark |language=da |date=25 November 2009 |access-date=28 November 2009}}</ref>-->

<ref name=HeraldSeries>{{cite web |url=http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/search/1684528.Wildlife_crime_soars/ |title=Wildlife crime soars |work=The Herald Series |date=12 September 2007 |access-date=6 July 2009 |quote=In Didcot, poisoned rabbits were laid out as bait disguised as road-kill, targeting red kites |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213022844/http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/search/1684528.Wildlife_crime_soars/ |archive-date=13 December 2014 }}</ref>

<ref name=Hille2000>{{cite journal |first1=Sabine |last1=Hille |first2=Jean-Marc |last2=Thiollay |year=2000 |title=The imminent extinction of the kites ''Milvus milvus fasciicauda'' and ''Milvus m. migrans'' on the Cape Verde Islands |journal=Bird Conservation International |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=361–369 |doi=10.1017/s0959270900000319 | doi-access=free}}</ref>

<ref name=Hogan2005>Hogan, C. Michael (2005): ''Kullaberg Nature Reserve, Sweden''. Lumina technologies.</ref>

<ref name=holloway>{{cite book |last=Holloway |first=S. |year=1996 |title=The Historical Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland: 1875–1900 |publisher=T & A D Poyser |isbn=978-0-85661-094-3}}</ref>

<ref name=Jobling>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n255 255]}}</ref>

<ref name=Johnson>{{cite journal |first1=Jeff A. |last1=Johnson |first2=Richard T. |last2=Watson |first3=David P. |last3=Mindell |year=2005 |title=Prioritizing species conservation: does the Cape Verde kite exist? |journal=[[Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences]] |volume=272 |issue=7 |pages=1365–1371 |pmid=16006325 |pmc=1560339 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2005.3098 }}</ref>

<ref name=Lacepede>{{ cite book | last=Lacépède | first=Bernard Germain de | author-link=Bernard Germain de Lacépède | year=1799 | title=Discours d'ouverture et de clôture du cours d'histoire naturelle | chapter=Tableau des sous-classes, divisions, sous-division, ordres et genres des oiseux | language=fr | publisher=Plassan | place=Paris | page=4 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6uhAAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA78 }} Page numbering starts at one for each of the three sections.</ref>

<ref name=Linnaeus1758>{{cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=C. | author-link=Carl Linnaeus |language=la |title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. |location=Stockholm |publisher=Laurentius Salvius |year=1758 |volume=1 |quote=F. cera flava, cauda forsicata, corpore ferrugineo, capite albidiore. |page=89 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726996 }}</ref>

<ref name=McCarthy2>{{cite web |last1=McCarthy |first1=Michael |title=Red kite makes triumphant return in England and Scotland but numbers decline elsewhere |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/red-kite-makes-triumphant-return-in-england-and-scotland-but-numbers-decline-elsewhere-597894.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402140703/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/red-kite-makes-triumphant-return-in-england-and-scotland-but-numbers-decline-elsewhere-597894.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 |website=The Independent |access-date=14 January 2015}}</ref>

<ref name=McCarthy2006>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/shakespeares-red-kite-returns-to-london-after-an-absence-of-150-years-522771.html |title=Shakespeare's red kite returns to London after an absence of 150 years |last=McCarthy |first=Michael |date=13 January 2006 |work=The Independent on Sunday |publisher=Independent News and Media Limited |access-date=5 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103112619/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/shakespeares-red-kite-returns-to-london-after-an-absence-of-150-years-522771.html |archive-date=3 November 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name=McCarthy2007>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/silent-fields-by-roger-lovegrove-441401.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103122615/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/silent-fields-by-roger-lovegrove-441401.html |archive-date=3 November 2012 |title=Book Review:Silent Field, By Roger Lovegrove: songbirds versus shotguns |last=McCarthy |first=Michael |date=23 March 2007 |work=The Independent|access-date=7 July 2009 |location=London}}</ref>

<ref name=Melia2010>{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/two-chicks-about-the-size-of-a-fist-2190451.html |work=Irish Independent |first=Paul |last=Melia |title=Two chicks about the size of a fist |date=22 May 2010}}</ref>

<ref name=Melton2008>{{cite web |url=http://www.ephotozine.com/photo/967065 |title=Leucistic Red Kite |last=Melton |first=Tom |date=13 August 2008 |work=ephotozone |access-date=7 July 2009}}</ref>

<ref name=nantyrarian>{{cite web |url=http://www.nantyrarian.co.uk/ |title=Bwlch Nant-yr-Arian |year=2008 |publisher=Bwlch Nant Yr Arian Visitor Centre |access-date=7 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100802161924/http://www.nantyrarian.co.uk/ |archive-date=2 August 2010 }}</ref>

<ref name=NDP>{{cite web|url=http://www.ndp.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=/documents/featured-projects/goldeneagle.htm |title=Golden Eagle Trust, Glenveagh National Park |work=National Development plan |publisher=NDP |access-date=26 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406174556/http://www.ndp.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=%2Fdocuments%2Ffeatured-projects%2Fgoldeneagle.htm |archive-date= 6 April 2009 }}</ref>

<ref name=NewKay>{{cite web |url=http://www.newquay-westwales.co.uk/kite.htm |title=The Red Kite in West Wales |last=Atrill |first=Rod |work=New Quay on Cardigan Bay in West Wales |publisher=Rod Attrill |access-date=7 July 2009 |archive-date=31 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831101832/http://www.newquay-westwales.co.uk/kite.htm }}</ref>

<ref name=northantset>{{cite news |title=Red Kite project a soaring success |url=http://www.northantset.co.uk/news/local/corby/red_kite_project_a_soaring_success_1_773028 |access-date=4 August 2011 |newspaper=Evening Telegraph |date=9 November 2007}}</ref>

<ref name=Pugh>{{cite web |last=Pugh |first=Elfyn |url=http://www.birdsofbritain.co.uk/features/red-kite2.asp |title=The Red Kite |publisher=Birds of Britain |access-date=26 October 2009 |archive-date=30 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100130042749/http://www.birdsofbritain.co.uk/features/red-kite2.asp }}</ref>

<ref name=Radio4>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yz3t2 |title=BBC Radio 4, Debating Animals, Series 2, The Kestrel and Red Kite by Rod Liddle}}</ref>

<ref name=rspb>{{cite web|date=28 September 2008|title=Red Kite numbers soar to new high | work= The Scotsman
| url=http://news.scotsman.com/latest-scottish-news/Red-Kite-numbers-soar-to.4492268.jp|access-date=8 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080928031357/http://news.scotsman.com/latest-scottish-news/Red-Kite-numbers-soar-to.4492268.jp |archive-date=28 September 2008 }}</ref>

<ref name=rspb2>{{cite web |url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/redkite/distribution_population.aspx |title=Red kite: Distribution and population size |publisher=The RSPB |access-date=28 August 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="RSPB conservation">{{cite web |url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/redkite/conservation.aspx |title=Red Kite |work=RSPB Conservation |publisher=RSPB |access-date=26 October 2009}}</ref>

<ref name=Schreiber2000>{{cite journal |last1=Schreiber |first1=Arnd |last2=Stubbe |first2=Michael |last3=Stubbe |first3=Annegret |year=2000 |title=Red kite (''Milvus milvus'') and black kite (''M. migrans''): minute genetic interspecies distance of two raptors breeding in a mixed community (Falconiformes: Accipitridae) |journal=[[Biological Journal of the Linnean Society]] |volume=69 |issue=3 |pages=351–365 |doi=10.1006/bijl.1999.0365|doi-access= }}</ref>

<ref name=WalesFavBird>{{cite web |title=The Welsh Kite Trust |url=http://www.welshkitetrust.org/ |access-date=16 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105181926/http://welshkitetrust.org/ |archive-date=5 January 2014 }}</ref>

<ref name=WelshKiteTrust>{{cite web |url=http://www.gigrin.co.uk/w/europe/europe.html |publisher=Welsh Kite Trust |title=Red Kites decline in Europe |access-date=24 February 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108015436/http://www.gigrin.co.uk/w/europe/europe.html |archive-date=8 November 2013 }}</ref>

<ref name=WestmorlandGazette>{{cite news |url=http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/8224578.Red_kites_to_make_a_Lake_District_return/ |title=Red kites to make a Lake District return |date=17 June 2010 |work=The Westmorland Gazette |publisher=Newsquest media group |access-date=12 July 2010}}</ref>

<ref name=wildlifeextra>{{cite web |url=http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/ireland-kites.html#cr |title=Red Kites fly again in Ireland |work=Wildlife Extra: News |publisher=Wildlife Extra |access-date=26 October 2009}}</ref>

<ref name=whiteredkite>{{cite web |url=http://www.gigrin.co.uk/white_redkite.html |title=The White Kite |work=Gigrin Farm – The Red Kite feeding station |publisher=Gigrin Farm |access-date=7 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202133553/http://gigrin.co.uk/white_redkite.html |archive-date=2 February 2009}}</ref>

<ref name=yorkshireredkites>{{cite web |title=Red Kites and poisons |url=http://www.yorkshireredkites.net/index.php/important-info/red-kites-and-poisons |publisher=Yorkshire Red Kites |access-date=12 December 2014 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220724/http://www.yorkshireredkites.net/index.php/important-info/red-kites-and-poisons }}</ref>

}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book | editor1-last=Cramp | editor1-first=Stanley | display-editors=etal | editor1-link=Stanley Cramp | year=1980 | chapter=''Milvus milvus'' Red Kite | title=Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palearctic |volume=II: ''Hawks to Bustards'' | place=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-857505-4 | pages=36–44 }}

==Further reading==
*{{ cite journal | last1=Carter | first1=Ian | last2=Grice | first2=Phil | year=2000 | title=Studies of re-established Red Kites in England | journal=British Birds | volume=93 | pages=304–322 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51259093 }}
*{{ cite journal | last1=Evans | first1=Ian M. | year=1997 | title=The re-establishment of Red Kite breeding populations in Scotland and England | journal=British Birds | volume=90 | pages=123–138 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51322838 }}
*{{ cite journal | last1=Mougeot | first1=François | last2=Bretagnolle | first2=Vincent | year=2006 | title=Breeding biology of the Red Kite ''Milvus milvus'' in Corsica | journal=Ibis | volume=148 | issue= 3| pages=436–448 | doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.2006.00558.x | s2cid=55220709 }}
*{{ cite journal | last1=Newton | first1=I. | last2=Davis | first2=P.&nbsp;E. | last3=Davis | first3=J.&nbsp;E. | year=1989 | title=Age of first breeding, dispersal and survival of Red Kites ''Milvus milvus'' in Wales | journal=Ibis | volume=131 | issue=1 | pages=16–21 | doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1989.tb02738.x }}
*{{cite book | last=Turner | first=William | author-link= William Turner (naturalist) | translator=Evans, A.&nbsp;H. | translator-link=Arthur Humble Evans | year=1903 | orig-date=1544 | title=Turner on birds: a short and succinct history of the principal birds noticed by Pliny and Aristotle first published by Doctor William Turner, 1544 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | place=Cambridge | language=la, en | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/21148979 | page=117 }}
*{{ cite journal | last1=Viñuela | first1=Javier | last2=Bustamante | first2=Javier | year=1992 | title=Effect of growth and hatching asynchrony on the fledging age of black and red kites | journal=Auk | volume=109 | issue=4 | pages=748–757 | url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v109n04/p0748-p0757.pdf | doi=10.2307/4088150 | jstor=4088150 }}
*{{ cite journal | last1=Walters Davies | first1=P. | last2=Davis | first2=P.&nbsp;E. | year=1973 | title=The ecology and conservation of the Red Kite in Wales | journal=British Birds | volume=66 | pages=183–224, [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48991936 241-270] | url=https://britishbirds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/article_files/V66/V66_N05/V66_N05_P183_225_A041.pdf }}<!--I can't find the 2nd part of the britishbirds website -->
*{{ cite book | last=Willughby | first=Francis | author-link=Francis Willughby | year=1678 | chapter=The Kite or Glead: ''Milvus carda forcipata'' | title=The ornithology of Francis Willughby of Middleton in the county of Warwick | place=London | publisher=John Martyn | pages=74–75 | chapter-url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41441871 }}

==External links==
{{commons category|Milvus milvus|the red kite}}
{{Wikispecies|Milvus milvus}}
* [http://friendsofredkites.org.uk/ Friends of Red Kites - Details about the reintroduced kites in the Derwent Valley, Gateshead]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160105022352/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/mediaexplorer/?theme_group=species&theme=birds&set=red_kite BBC Wales Nature - Red Kite footage]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yz3t2 BBC Report about this bird's redemption in UK culture from a hated ''shithawk'' to a beloved bird]
* [http://www.gigrin.co.uk/ The Welsh Kite Trust - includes UK breeding reports]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150509150050/http://www.redkites.co.uk/ About Red Kites - includes latest figures available in UK]
* [http://www.redkites.net Details Red Kites in the Chilterns - about the reintroduced kites in the Chilterns]
* [http://www.yorkshireredkites.net/ Red Kites in Yorkshire]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131211091642/http://www.berksoc.org.uk/surveys/kites_and_buzzards_2006_results.shtml Red Kites in Berkshire (Berkshire Ornithological Club) - 2006/2007 Survey]
* [http://blascozumeta.com/wp-content/uploads/aragon-birds/non-passeriformes/105.redkite-mmilvus.pdf <nowiki>Adult and juvenile Red Kite wing identification images (PDF; 5.6 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze</nowiki>] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320021550/http://blascozumeta.com/wp-content/uploads/aragon-birds/non-passeriformes/105.redkite-mmilvus.pdf |date=20 March 2019 }}
* {{InternetBirdCollection|red-kite-milvus-milvus}}
* {{VIREO|red+kite}}
* {{IUCN_Map|22695072/210523277|Milvus milvus}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q156250}}
{{National symbols of Wales}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Birds described in 1758]]
[[Category:Birds of Cape Verde]]
[[Category:Birds of prey of Africa]]
[[Category:Birds of prey of Europe]]
[[Category:Falconry]]
[[Category:Kites (birds)]]
[[Category:Milvus]]
[[Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]