{"id":15775,"date":"2022-04-21T08:00:02","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T06:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=59625"},"modified":"2022-04-21T08:20:12","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T06:20:12","slug":"red-kite-guide-how-to-identify-them-what-they-eat-and-do-they-really-steal-laundry","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/red-kite-guide-how-to-identify-them-what-they-eat-and-do-they-really-steal-laundry\/","title":{"rendered":"Red kite guide: how to identify them, what they eat, and do they really steal laundry?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 21 April 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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It was saved from national extinction by one of the world\u2019s longest-running protection programmes. It has now been successfully re-introduced to England and Scotland and their population have gone from from strength to strength, and the red kite population is now considered to be stable.<\/p>\n

Red kites are listed under Schedule 1 of The Wildlife and Countryside Act.<\/p>\n

At one time confined to Wales as a result of persecution, a reintroduction scheme has brought red kites back to many parts of England and Scotland.<\/p>\n

The best areas to find them in the Uk are central Wales, central England \u2013 especially the Chilterns, central Scotland \u2013 at Argaty and along the Galloway Kite Trail.<\/p>\n

What is the scientific name of the red kite?<\/h2>\n

The scientific name of the red kite is Milvus milvus<\/em>. \u2018Milvus\u2019 in Latin means \u2018kite\u2019.<\/p>\n

This is an example of a tautonym<\/a>, where the genus and specific name are the same.<\/p>\n

How to identify a red kite<\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
An adult red kite in flight, in Wales. \u00a9 Norman Norris\/RSPB<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Red kites are a large bird of prey, with a wingspan of nearly 2m, and the females can be up to 5% bigger than the males. You can tell them apart from their fellow birds of prey by their glorious reddish-brown body and grey head.<\/p>\n

They are sometimes mistaken for buzzards, but the main giveaway is their forked tail \u2013 their tail feathers fan out with a deep \u2018v\u2019 in the middle, creating a distinctive silhouette against the sky when they\u2019re in flight. They also tend to soar more (like a kite!), compared to buzzards which tend to flap their wings more often.<\/p>\n

How big is a red kite?<\/h2>\n

Red kites are about 60-66cm long, and weigh between 800g-1.3kg. Females tend to be a bit bigger, between 1-1.3kg, while males are more within the lower\/mid-range, between 800 and 1.2kg.<\/p>\n

Red kites\u2019 wingspan can be nearly 2m long, around 175-195cm.<\/p>\n

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