The descriptive text, below the map, is from the Cornish Red Data Book (2009). The map on this web page depicts the organisms distribution and shows the records made pre-2000 and those made since.
Range & Status
W. Europe, with an isolated population in the Caucasus. British population formerly restricted to mid Wales, but an extensive reintroduction scheme initiated in the 1980s has proven very successful with kites now a familiar sight over many parts of England and S. Scotland. Red Kites were not released in Devon or Cornwall in the hope of a natural colonisation from Wales.
Regional Distribution
Until recently a scarce, but annual, wanderer from mid Wales, some of which were longstayers and therefore potential breeders. However, apart from anecdotal reports of kites nesting in the Warleggan/St Neot area in the 1920s there has been little evidence to prove successful breeding. 2008 saw regular reports of birds in the Glynn Valley and around the Taphouses and there were further reports of birds in early 2009. Scarce but increasingly frequent visitor; the wooded valleys running off the southern slopes of Bodmin Moor are attracting one or two long-stayers and future breeding is possible.
Habitat & Ecology
Favours steep-sided, oak-lined valleys with rolling hills above. Takes some live food, but is primarily a scavenger.
Threats
Illegal poison bait put out for foxes, egg collectors, low breeding success and potential loss of Oak Quercus spp. woodland.
Conservation
Protected under Schedule 1 of WCA 1981; Annex 1 of EC Birds Directive; Appendix II of the Bern Convention.
I.J. Bennallick, S. Board, C.N. French, P.A. Gainey, C. Neil, R. Parslow, A. Spalding and P.E. Tompsett. eds. 2009. Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition.Croceago Press.
The Cornish Red Data Book Project was led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders (CISFBR). The full text and species accounts (minus the maps) are available on the CISFBR website.